Investigation of the Risk Awareness of Wearing Masks by the Public during COVID-19 According to the Health Belief Questionnaires of Shanxi Province Residents

Abstract

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which appeared in 2019 and spread around the world, is a newly discovered coronavirus strain. The pneumonia caused by it was confirmed to be an acute respiratory infectious disease [1]. As a newly discovered acute respiratory infectious disease. It poses a great threat to public health. COVID-19 prevention is necessary due to its high speed of transmission and the lack of therapeutic means. According to “COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Plan (trial version 7)” [2], respiratory droplets and close contact are the main transmission routes of COVID-19, and aerosol transmission may exist when exposed to high concentration of COVID-19 contained aerosol in a relatively closed environment for a long time. In today’s epidemic, wearing masks can effectively prevent the spread of the virus. Based on the current situation, on May 26, 2020, Disease prevention and control bureau issued notice on the issuance of guidelines for the public to wear masks scientifically, it divides the population into the general public, people in specific places, key people, and occupationally exposed people, etc., and put forward scientific advice to wear masks under different places. Although a great deal of research has been conducted on risk perception, there is still no consensus on the dimensions and measures of risk perception: Is risk strictly cognitive or emotional; Risk may differ before and after preventive actions (such as wearing a mask) [3]. This study believes that risk is a strict cognitive process, which is measured in two dimensions: perceived susceptibility, or the probability of the outcome, and perceived severity, or the size of the outcome. Studies on wearing masks during the epidemic also include the protection of masks against COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. In order to make the model more complete, based on the health belief model, this study supplemented the perceived benefit, perceived barriers and self-efficacy.