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

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.

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.

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).

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.