Background: Hospital staff are at the frontline for the prevention and control of COVID-19. Understanding their perception of exposure risk is, therefore, important during the early phase of this pandemic. In this study, we evaluated the perception regarding risk of exposure to COVID-19 among Vietnamese hospital staff in Vietnam.Method: A cross-sectional online study was carried out to collect demographic data and risk exposure perception during the second week of the national lockdown in April 2020 in Vietnam. Seven hundred and forty two hospital staff were recruited using the snowball sampling to answer 5-point Likert scale questions regarding their risk exposure perception. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the construct validity of the questionnaire. Pearson coefficient analysis and multivariable regression models were applied to identify factors associated with the perceived COVID-19 exposure risk.Results: Participants perceived a high risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 (score = 3.4, SD = 0.8). They also perceived the workplace response to COVID-19 as inadequate (score = 2.0, SD = 0.5). In particular, participants who worked in the emergency or intensive care departments were more likely to perceive an exposure risk, compared to those in infectious disease control departments (Coef. = −0.38, 95%CI: −0.74; −0.02). Participants from central regions perceived a lower risk of exposure to COVID-19 than those from northern regions (OR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.28–0.96). Nurses were less likely than doctors to report being at risk of exposure to COVID-19 (OR = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.33–0.95).Conclusions: We identified a high level of perceived risk regarding COVID-19 exposure among hospital staff during the unprecedented lockdown period in Vietnam. A comprehensive approach, incorporating improved risk communications, safety training and psychological support programs, for all hospital staff, including nurses and those residing in high population density areas, might further strengthen the national effort to control the pandemic.

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Background Prior research has established that an individual’s social environment may influence his or her reproductive behaviors, yet less is known about peer influence on contraceptive use among young people (ages 15–24). In Kenya, the site of this study, 15% of adolescents ages 15–19 have begun childbearing and 45% of sexually active young women report current use of a modern contraceptive method. This highlights the need to better understand what factors influence young people to use contraception. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between the perception of peers’ use of contraceptives and contraceptive use and method choice among young men and women in Kenya. Methods This study utilizes a nationally representative sample of women and men aged 15–24 years from the 2018 and 2019 cross sectional Shujaaz State of the Kenyan Youth annual surveys. Among the sample of sexually experienced young people (59%), multivariable multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the association between the perception of peers’ use of contraceptives and the respondent’s contraceptive method choice: non-user, condom use or use of any other modern method. Results are presented separately for young men and young women. Results Our results show that sexually experienced young men and women who perceive that their peers are using contraceptives are more likely to report current use of modern contraception. Among women and men, the perception that their peers use contraceptives is associated with higher use of condoms compared to being a nonuser; they are also more likely to use condoms than another modern method of contraception. Young women are more likely to use another modern method (not including condoms) than be a nonuser when they perceive that their peers use contraceptives. Conclusions The results of this study highlight the important role of peer influence on young people’s contraceptive choices. These findings can be used to develop programs that encourage behavior change communication activities in Kenya that focus on providing information on the full range of contraceptive methods as well as normalizing contraceptive use among peer groups of sexually experienced young people.