BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected nearly 9.5 million people in 216 countries, areas, or territories in the world. The fight against the COVID-19 has become a very serious international challenge. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of COVID-19-preventive behaviors using the health belief model (HBM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 558 samples from the adult population of Iran. The online convenience sampling was conducted in this research. The online 68-item questionnaire link was published all over Iran through social networks including Telegram and WhatsApp, which are common in Iran. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19. Descriptive statistics, bivariate Pearson's correlation test, and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 33.3 ± 10.01 years. The participants were often female (61.3%), married (57.9%), and resident of the city (81.0%) with university educational level (78.8%). The results showed that the HBM structures predicted 29.3% of the preventive behaviors of COVID-19 in the subjects. The perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy significantly predicted the preventive behaviors, but the perceived susceptibility and perceived severity were not significant in the regression model. The internet and virtual social networks (49.8%), broadcast (33.5%), and healthcare providers (15.8%) were the most important sources of information related with COVID-19. In response to COVID-19-related internal cues to action, 36.6% did not pay attention and 34.7% tried to self-medicate. Only 28.5% of the subjects referred to the hospital, healthcare center, or physician. CONCLUSION: Self-efficacy, perceived barriers, and perceived benefits were the key determinants of COVID-19-preventive behaviors in the subjects. It can be concluded that the HBM is a good tool to predict COVID-19-preventive behaviors in Iranian population.

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BACKGROUND: The new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly spreading around the world. At present (up to July 11, 2020), 255,117 cases and 12,635 deaths due to this disease have been reported in Iran. Following the guidelines recommended for the prevention and control of the disease is the most important approach to combating this global threat. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice, and fear of the Iranian people in relation to COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 558 Iranian people who entered the study by convenience sampling method. The knowledge, attitude, practice, and fear of the Iranian general population toward COVID-19 were collected using an online 50-items questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, independent sample T-test, and bivariate Pearson’s correlation were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The studied subjects were mostly in urban area (81.0%), female (61.3%), and married (57.9%). The participants’ knowledge about personal hygiene (88.9%), using a facemask (82.2%), and the symptoms of the COVID-19 (76.8%) were adequate. However, their knowledge about contaminated surfaces disinfection procedure (41.8%), and the importance of using a facemask for healthy people (43.7%) was lower. The highest level of the subjects’ attitude was related to the role of social distancing (94.6%), staying at home (94.5%), and personal hygiene (91.2%). The low levels of attitude were also associated with access to personal protective equipment (84.1%) and the psychological effects of COVID-19 (65.3%). Furthermore, the highest levels of practices were related to avoiding hand shaking with others (91.5%) and washing hands frequently (88.8%). The practices such as following a healthy and nutritious diet (45.1%) and wearing gloves (51.4%) were reported to be less common. CONCLUSION: The results showed that about half of the subjects did not have enough knowledge about COVID-19. However, the attitude and practice of most of the participants toward COVID-19 were moderate or good. Nevertheless, the extensive health education interventions are needed to promote knowledge about COVID-19 and also to motivate people to do preventive behaviors.