Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Risk Perception in the COVID‑19 pandemic; a health promotion approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Maryam Feiz Arefi 1
. Amin Pouya Babaei 2
. Somaye Barzanouni 3
. Sahar Ebrahimi 4
. Amir Reza Salehi 4
. Farahnaz Khajehnasiri 5
. Mohsen Poursadeghian 6

1 Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Torbat Heidariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heidariyeh, Iran Health Sciences Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran

2 Department of Occupational Health and safety Engineering, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran

3 Health Sciences Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran, Vice Chancellery of Education and Research, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran

4 Clinical Research Development Center, Pastor Educational Hospital, Bam University of Medical Sciences, Bam, Iran

5 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

6 Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Torbat Heidariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heidariyeh, Iran Department of Occupational Health and safety Engineering, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many measures have been taken so far to minimize the outbreak of COVID‑19, but 
it is still unclear to what extent people have understood the risk. Public participation plays a vital role 
in better and effective control of the coronavirus, and the importance of risk perception is effective 
in their preventive behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the pandemic risk perception 
of coronavirus disease after began of pandemic in Iranian society.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‑sectional study was conducted in Iran in spring 2020. The 
data collection tool was a researcher‑made questionnaire. The questions were extracted through 
interviews with experts and summarizing the opinions of public interviews, etc., The questionnaire 
was made available to the public through social media. The information was collected within 
3 months. Quantitative data were reported as mean ± standard deviation and the qualitative data 
were reported as number and percent. Multiple linear regression and cross were also used to examine 
the demographic factors associated with risk perception. Data Analysis was performed using the 
SPSS version 21 statistical software.
RESULTS: In this study, 402 individuals from 28 provinces (Azarbaijan Gharbi, Azarbaijan Sharghi, 
Alborz, Ardabil, Bushehr, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Ghazvin, Gilan, Golestan, 
Hamedan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan Razavi, Khorasan Shomali, Khuzestan, 
Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Semnan, Sistan and Baluchestan, 
Tehran, Yazd, and Zanjan) of Iran participated. The risk perception score obtained from the sum 
of the scores of the questions was classified into quartiles. Accordingly, the risk perception score 
of (22.9) 92 people was very low, (26.6) 107 people low, (26.9) 108 people moderate, and (23.6) 95 
people high. The results of multiple linear regression showed that the variables of gender (P = 0.008) 
and occupation (P = 0.013) had a significant relationship with risk perception. There was no 
significant relationship between risk perception and variables of age, marital status, and level of 
education (P > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: The study showed that the risk perception of the people is more in categories 
of moderate to high. Assessing the risk perception of a pandemic can be helpful for preventive 
measurements and planning, and also, according to the results of the research, can be done 
appropriate educational interventions. Given that 47.5% of respondents were employees, of course, 
it should be noted that in sending a questionnaire virtually, there is usually a lot of loss and this is 
a limitation of the research. The results of this study can be useful in making prevention decisions 
and maintaining safety and health in the workplace.

Keywords

Behavior
COVID‑19
health
knowledge
pandemics
perception
risk
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 4
April 2022
Pages 1-8

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