Predictors of Preventive Behaviors Against the Common Acute Respiratory Viral Infections among Female Hairdressers in Urmia: Application of Extended Protection Motivation Theory

In hairdressers, for various reasons, the potential for transmission and spread of infectious diseases is high. On the other hand, adopting preventive behaviors is one of the main ways to control and prevent these diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the predictors of preventive behaviors against the common acute respiratory viral infections based on the constructs of Extended Protection Motivation Theory among the female hairdressers in Urmia.

In the present cross-sectional study, 400 female hairdressers were entered by multi-stage sampling method. The data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire containing of two sections. The first section was demographic information and the second section was questions related to the Extended Protection Motivation Theory constructs about the common acute respiratory viral infections. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16 software.

Perceived self-efficacy (β=0.348, p<0.001), response costs (β=-0.169, p=0.002), perceived severity (β=0.168, p=0.002), protection motivation (β=0.140, p=0.041), and knowledge (β=0.124, p=0.005), respectively the most power, were predictors of preventive behaviors against the common acute respiratory viral infections. Extended Protection Motivation Theory constructs explained about 37% of the variance of preventive behaviors against the common acute respiratory viral infections among the female hairdressers in Urmia.

Constructs of perceived self-efficacy, response costs, perceived severity, protection motivation, and knowledge can be used to develop and implement educational interventions related to the promotion of preventive behaviors against the common acute respiratory viral infections among the female hairdressers in Urmia.