Risk Perception Measurement and Influencing Factors of COVID-19 in Medical College Students

Purpose: In China, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been under control and entered the normal prevention and control stage. For medical college students, many studies have analyzed their knowledge, risk perception, and prevention behaviors of COVID-19, but only a few pieces of research explore the content structure of COVID-19 risk perception and the influencing factors. This study measured the students' risk perception of COVID-19 and its dimensions and analyzed the influencing factors of risk perception among them. Methods: The online questionnaire survey was conducted at Hangzhou Medical College in Zhejiang Province among undergraduates and junior college students. A scale was formulated to precisely measure and analyze the COVID-19 risk perception among medical college students. The factors affecting the COVID-19 risk perception in medical college students were analyzed using the multivariate linear regression model. Results: A total of 810 medical students participated in the survey. Results show that COVID-19 risk perception among medical college students was divided into four dimensions: perceived health threat, perceived severity, perceived controllability, and perceived infection possibility. The results showed that income, education, major, and COVID-19 knowledge were the important factors affecting the COVID-19 risk perception of medical college students. Related factors have different influences on the various dimensions of COVID-19 risk perception. COVID-19 knowledge was significantly related to all dimensions of risk perception. Conclusion: This study evaluates the content structure of medical college students' risk perception of COVID-19 precisely and related influencing factors. It is necessary to grasp the risk perception, prevention, and control behaviors of medical college students of different backgrounds, education levels, and majors. Further knowledge training should be conducted for students majoring in clinical medicine, especially the pandemic prevention and control measure training to enhance their sense of security at work.