Abstract
The invariance of the Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale (PCIBS) was evaluated in 12 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay). A total of 5183 people from the aforementioned countries participated, selected using the snowball sampling method. Measurement invariance was assessed by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) and Multi-Group Factor Analysis Alignment (CFA-MIAL). In addition, item characteristics were assessed based on Item Response Theory. The results indicate that the original five-item version of the PCIBS is not adequate; whereas a four-item version of the PCIBS (PCIBS-4) showed a good fit in all countries. Thus, using the MG-CFA method, the PCIBS-4 achieved metric invariance, while the CFA-MIAL method indicated that the PCIBS-4 shows metric and scalar invariance. Likewise, the four items present increasing difficulties and high values in the discrimination parameters. The comparison of means of the PCIBS-4 reported irrelevant differences between countries; however, Mexico and Peru presented the highest frequency of preventive behaviors related to COVID-19. It is concluded that the PCIBS-4 is a unidimensional self-report measure which is reliable and invariant across the twelve participating Latin American countries. It is expected that the findings will be of interest to social and health scientists, as well as those professionals directly involved in public health decision making.
Highlights
At the time of writing, more than 39,604,000 cases of COVID19 have been reported in Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 1,331,000 have died
It is important to have a measure to know how often people perform preventive behaviors against COVID-19 that are recommended by public health authorities globally
In this study we assessed the MI of the PCIBS in Latin American countries as a measure of health behaviors related to COVID-19 prevention based on WHO recommendations
Summary
At the time of writing, more than 39,604,000 cases of COVID19 have been reported in Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 1,331,000 have died. Most Latin American countries have initiated the COVID-19 vaccination process, the spread of COVID-19 in this region has made people’s health behaviors, especially preventive behaviors, important to reduce the rate of disease transmission (Chang et al, 2020a). Health-promoting behaviors are those aimed at maintaining or improving health, which are important in limiting the spread of communicable diseases (Toussaint et al, 2020). In this type of diseases, viruses or bacteria are transmitted from one person to another through different means, such as air, surfaces or body fluids (Weston et al, 2018). There are commonalities, such as the use of masks, hand washing and social distancing (Breakwell et al, 2021)
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