Risk perception and preventive behaviours of COVID-19 among university students, Gondar, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess COVID-19 preventive behaviours and their associated factors among university students. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was employed among 405 university students and the study participants were chosen using a stratified simple random selection procedure. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to assess participants’ perception of and preventive behaviour towards COVID-19. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to identify factors associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviour. RESULT: A total of 405 students participated in this study with a response rate of 97.4%. The mean age of the participants was 23.6 (SD ±2.4, range 19–30) years. Two hundred and twenty of the participants (45.7% with 95% CI 41.0% to 51.0%) had good preventive behaviour towards COVID-19. COVID-19 preventive behaviour was significantly associated with age (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.1, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.2), female sex (AOR=1.6, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.60), knowing anyone infected with COVID-19 (AOR=4.05, 95% CI 1.9 to 8.8), participants who had high perceived susceptibility (AOR=2.14, 95% CI 1.44 to 3.35) and participants who were enrolled in health programmes (AOR=4.23, 95% CI 2.6 to 7.0). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: The overall COVID-19 preventive behaviour among university students is unsatisfactory. Students' COVID-19 preventive behaviour was influenced by age, sex, knowing a COVID-19 infected person, perceived susceptibility and the sort of programme in which they had enrolled. The findings revealed that health communication interventions aimed at changing people’s perceptions of COVID-19 and related prevention strategies are urgently needed to improve this population’s COVID-19 preventive behaviour.