Preventive Behaviour of Adults and Its Predictors in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Bangladesh: Findings from a Community Survey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3329/bmrcb.v47i1.55805Keywords:
COVID-19, Prevention, Predictor, Rural adultAbstract
Background: Bangladesh with its large population is highly vulnerable to the devastating blows of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and rural people are more at risks due to demographic characteristics and unequal health facilities. Currently, focuses are more on testing and clinical management of COVID-19 but initiatives or innovations on behavioural changes are almost unseen to prevent the spread of the disease which is more urgent until getting specific treatment or vaccine.
Objective: The study was aimed to determine significant predictors in the preventive health practices during COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: The study was conducted among 810 rural adults of Bangladesh in 2020. Multistage sampling method was done and data were collected through face-to-face interview using a pretested questionnaire. Significant factors of COVID-19 prevention behaviour were determined through hierarchical regression and path relationships were explained through causal model.
Results: Almost half of the rural adults showed poor COVID-19 prevention behaviour during the pandemic crisis. Poor knowledge and attitude regarding COVID-19 prevention were also common scenarios in rural areas. Majority of the rural adults were not well motivated and lack of seriousness made them more vulnerable for COVID-19. Socio-demographic and regional variation showed significance predicting health practices of rural adults regarding COVID-19 prevention. Information, attitude, motivation and intention were also found significant in hierarchical regression to predict the outcome. The causal model of preventive health behaviour was justified through all the significant direct and indirect path relationships (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Socio-economic disparity should be reduced for behavioural changes of rural adults to ensure healthy practices during the pandemic. This study has great implications regarding designing health programs by emphasizing significant predictors to improve community behaviour to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2021; 47(1): 9-16
Downloads
34
44
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Md Ashraful Alam, Md Nazmul Haque, Shuvashis Saha, Halima Sultana Haque, Afrin Ahmed Clara, Yesmin Sultana
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication.
Articles in the Bangladesh Medical Research Council Bulletin are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
