Factors associated with risk perception towards coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) among students of Sirindhorn College of Public Health, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify factors associated with risk perception towards COVID-19 among Sirindhorn college of public health Khon Kaen province students. Various health education and psychological models suggest that a primary driver of habits is risk perception. Protective habits are more likely to be adopted by people who experience greater risk, affecting the likelihood of infection. Two multistage random samplings made up a total of 360 participants. The data were collected via a structured questionnaire from April to May 2020. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, maximum, and multiple logistic regression models (with 95% CI) were computed to determine the possible associated factors to risk perception towards COVID-19. The finding revealed that more than half of the respondents were of good perception (74.44%;95 % CI [69.61 to 78.87]), and most of the participants were female (88.33%), with an average age of 20.51 years old (S.D.=1.82). The factors associated with a good risk perception of COVID-19 including knowledge (AOR= 3.44, p-value = 0.023, 95% CI [1.15, 10.27]), and behaviour level of COVID-19 protection presented at a moderate and good level (AOR= 2.47, p-value = 0.045, 95% CI [1.13, 5.41] and AOR= 4.61, p-value = 0.001, 95% CI [2.04, 10.41], respectively). There should be the campaign for increasing the behaviour focus on the new normal behaviour. Moreover, the college should have a COVID-19 consult system to decrease the number of participants worried about COVID-19. © 2021 by SPC (Sami Publishing Company).