@Article{info:doi/10.2196/49687,
author="Tang, Chia-Chun
and Chen, Hsi
and Tsai, Shao-Yu
and Wu, Wei-Wen",
title="Factors Associated With Levels of Public Engagement in Protective Behaviors During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic: Causal-Comparative Study Based on the Health Belief Model",
journal="JMIR Hum Factors",
year="2023",
month="Dec",
day="19",
volume="10",
pages="e49687",
keywords="infectious disease; protective behavior; COVID; health belief model; causal comparative; causal; protective; prevention; opinion; opinions; attitude; attitudes; COVID-19; pandemic; infection control; public safety; public health; survey; surveys",
abstract="Background: While the challenges of COVID-19 are still unfolding, the enhancement of protective behavior remains a top priority in global health care. However, current behavior-promoting strategies may be inefficient without first identifying the individuals with lower engagement in protective behavior and the associating factors. Objective: This study aimed to identify individuals with and potential contributing factors to low engagement in protective behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a causal-comparative study. A theory-based web-based survey was used to investigate individuals' protective behavior and potential associating factors. During June 2020, the distribution of the survey was targeted to 3 areas: Taiwan, Japan, and North America. Based on the theory of the health belief model (HBM), the survey collected participants' various perceptions toward COVID-19 and a collection of protective behaviors. In addition to the descriptive analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA, and Fisher exact and chi-square tests were used. Results: A total of 384 responses were analyzed. More than half of the respondents lived in Taiwan, followed by Japan, then North America. The respondents were grouped into 3 clusters according to their engagement level in all protective behaviors. These 3 clusters were significantly different from each other in terms of the participants' sex, residency, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues of action. Conclusions: This study used an HBM-based questionnaire to assess protective behaviors against COVID-19 and the associated factors across multiple countries. The findings indicate significant differences in various HBM concepts among individuals with varying levels of behavioral engagement. ",
issn="2292-9495",
doi="10.2196/49687",
url="https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2023/1/e49687",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/49687"
}