Risk perception and preventive behaviours of COVID-19 among university students, Gondar, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess COVID-19 preventive behaviours and their associated factors among university students.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was employed among 405 university students and the study participants were chosen using a stratified simple random selection procedure. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to assess participants’ perception of and preventive behaviour towards COVID-19. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to identify factors associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviour.ResultA total of 405 students participated in this study with a response rate of 97.4%. The mean age of the participants was 23.6 (SD ±2.4, range 19–30) years. Two hundred and twenty of the participants (45.7% with 95% CI 41.0% to 51.0%) had good preventive behaviour towards COVID-19. COVID-19 preventive behaviour was significantly associated with age (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.1, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.2), female sex (AOR=1.6, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.60), knowing anyone infected with COVID-19 (AOR=4.05, 95% CI 1.9 to 8.8), participants who had high perceived susceptibility (AOR=2.14, 95% CI 1.44 to 3.35) and participants who were enrolled in health programmes (AOR=4.23, 95% CI 2.6 to 7.0).Conclusion and recommendationThe overall COVID-19 preventive behaviour among university students is unsatisfactory. Students' COVID-19 preventive behaviour was influenced by age, sex, knowing a COVID-19 infected person, perceived susceptibility and the sort of programme in which they had enrolled. The findings revealed that health communication interventions aimed at changing people’s perceptions of COVID-19 and related prevention strategies are urgently needed to improve this population’s COVID-19 preventive behaviour.

COVID-19 Perception Regarding Preventive Behaviour Among Undergraduate Students at Chreso University in Lusaka, Zambia

“…Age, sex, knowing a COVID-19 infected person, perceived vulnerability, and the type of program they had registered in all had an impact on students' COVID-19 preventative behavior. The results also showed that in order to increase this population's COVID-19 preventive behavior, health communication interventions aiming at altering people's views of COVID-19 and related preventative methods are urgently needed (Tsegaw et al, 2022). Moreover, the results of this investigation are consistent with those of a study that was conducted in Saudi Arabia among student nurses.…”

Compliance with Non-Pharmacological Measures of Prevention against Covid-19 Infection among Undergraduate Students in a Nigerian University

“…The low level of compliance with NPIs in our study is comparable to a study in South-South, Nigeria, which showed very low effective use of facemasks among university students [11]. Studies in Ethiopia [21] and Egypt [22] also revealed a low level of adherence to Covid-19 preventive measures among university students.…”

Association of University Students’ COVID-19 Vaccination Intention with Behaviors toward Protection and Perceptions Regarding the Pandemic

“…It is worth noting that the way people perceive COVID-19 is significantly associated with their worries and preventing behaviors [ 27 ]. In a similar study, it was found that less than 45.7% of nursing students had adequate preventive behaviors toward COVID-19 [ 28 ], while Shahwan et al [ 29 ] found that more than half of the students were misunderstanding the most frequent symptoms of COVID-19, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and had little knowledge about the transmission of COVID-19. However, participants of an increased age had better COVID-19 preventive behavior than young participants possibly due to their high perceived susceptibility [ 28 ].…”

“…It has been found that the preventive behavior of nursing students is related to the knowledge they receive about COVID-19 transmission and prevention in the university where they study [ 35 ]. Thus, the appropriate education about pandemic risk perception can help students comply with COVID-19 preventive practices [ 28 ]. Moreover, websites of government and international organizations, social media, and published scientific articles can provide adequate information about COVID-19 prevention measures and vaccination to university students [ 32 ].…”