Abstract
To slow the spread of infectious disease, it is crucial to understand the engagement of protective behavior among individuals. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine individuals’ protective behaviors and the associated factors across countries during COVID-19. This causal-comparative study used a self-developed online survey to assess individuals’ level of engagement with six protective behaviors. Analysis of variance and McNemar’s test were employed for data analysis. Three hundred and eighty-four responses were analyzed. The majority of participants lived in three areas: Taiwan, Japan, and North America. Overall, the participants reported a high level of engagement in protective behaviors. However, engagement levels varied according to several demographic variables. Hand hygiene and cleaning/ventilation are two independent behaviors that differ from almost all other protective behaviors. There is a need to target the population at risk, which demonstrates low compliance. Different strategies are needed to promote specific protective behaviors.
Highlights
To slow the spread of infectious disease, it is crucial to understand the engagement of protective behavior among individuals
The year 2020 had an unusual start with the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was first noticed in Wuhan, China and quickly spread to 213 countries within 4 m onths[1]
We know that health behaviors may correlate with each other[13], it is unclear whether we can expect a person to perform a certain protective measure along with other measures, or, on the contrary, a certain behavior is not related to other protective behaviors
Summary
To slow the spread of infectious disease, it is crucial to understand the engagement of protective behavior among individuals. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine individuals’ protective behaviors and the associated factors across countries during COVID-19. This causalcomparative study used a self-developed online survey to assess individuals’ level of engagement with six protective behaviors. Other studies have indicated that personal hygiene11, efficacy[9], and background of medical professionals[12] may affect the adherence to protective measures This information regarding factors affecting the adoption of protective behaviors information is diverse, complicated, confined to specific areas, and lacks systematic integration, which adds to the difficulties in preventing disease spread through behavioral strategies. Variables Age Sex Male Female Not specify Marital Married Single Divorced Live together Widowed Prefer not to say Having children Yes No Education Primary school or lower Junior and senior high school College/University Graduate school Having chronic disease Yes No Healthcare professionals Yes No Places of residence in the past 6 months Taiwan Japan North America Others
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