Fear of COVID-19, Risk Perception and Preventive Behavior in Health Workers: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in Middle-Income Latin American Countries

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the association between fear of COVID-19 and risk perception with preventive behavior in health professionals from three Latin American countries. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted. Health professionals with on-site care in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Peru were surveyed. Information was collected through an online self-report questionnaire. The main variables were preventive behavior as the dependent variable and fear of COVID-19 and risk perception as independent variables. Linear regression was used, and Beta coefficients and p-values were calculated. 435 health professionals were included, the majority were aged 42 years or older (45.29%, 95%CI: 40.65%-50.01%) and female (67.82%, 95%CI: 63.27%-72.05%). It was shown that the greater the fear of COVID-19, the greater the preventive behavior of COVID-19 infection (B=2.21, p=0.002 for total behavior; B=1.12, p=0.037 for additional protection at work; B=1.11, p<0.010 for hand washing). The risk perception of COVID-19 infection had a slight direct relationship with preventive behaviors (B=0.28, p=0.021 for total behavior; B=0.13, p=0.015 for hand washing), with the exception of the preventive behavior of using additional protection at work (p=0.339). We found that fear and risk perception are associated with increased practice of hand washing and use of additional protection at work. Further studies are required on the influence of working conditions, job performance and the occurrence of mental health problems in frontline personnel with regard to COVID-19.

Risk perception of healthcare workers in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

“…When examining individual RP questions, their highest level of concern was related to the transmission of COVID-19 to family members, friends, and patients. Previous studies have also shown that healthcare workers were more concerned about infecting others, especially family members and loved ones, than about being infected themselves [ 33 , [51] , [52] , [53] ]. Therefore, the government and/or employing organization should provide healthcare workers with essential resources (e.g., masks and hand sanitizers) to protect their families or alternative housing arrangements to prevent transmission.…”

“…Consequently, numerous studies have investigated several aspects of COVID-19 RP [ 10 , 11 , [29] , [30] , [31] , [33] , [34] , [35] ]. However, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic created a disastrous scenario in Brazil, placing the country at the top of the ranking of infections and deaths alongside the United States [ 36 ], there is a limited body of research specifically addressing COVID-19 RP in the country.…”