Factors associated with preventive behaviors for COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers by a health behavior model

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic disease. There are limited data on predictors of good preventive behaviors among healthcare workers. This study aimed to evaluate if any factors were predictors of good preventive behaviors in healthcare workers under the theory of health behavior model. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in healthcare workers who were willing to participate in the study. Participants were requested to fill out a self-administered questionnaire that comprised health behavior model and preventive behaviors from COVID-19 infection. Factors associated with preventive behavior, an outcome, were analyzed by multivariate linear regression analysis. RESULTS: There were 273 healthcare workers who participated in this study. The average (SD) age and working duration of participants was 38.9 (12.1) and 11.4 (9.8) years. The preventive behavior category had an average score of 87.6% (70.3/80). After adjusted, knowledge and perception of personal preventability were independently associated with preventive behaviors. The adjusted coefficients of both factors were—0.911 (p 0.009) and 0.477 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Specific knowledge and perception of personal ability questions were associated with preventive behaviors for COVID-19 infection. To improve personal preventive behaviors in healthcare workers, these factors should be emphasized. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41182-022-00454-z.