Risk perception and preventive measures assumed by health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Grant number: 21/09443-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): February 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Adriano Dias
• Grantee: Joana Muraguti Griesi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Even after 13 months from the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 still is a great challenge. Due to its high transmissibility, has been essential to verify if health professionals are following the prevention recommendations. An efficient data for this kind of analysis is the risk perception, which is capable of predicting the adherence to preventive behaviors. The instrument used for this research was the Emotional Impact Questionnaire COVID-19 (EIQ-BR). Objectives: describe the population of health professionals who answered the EIQ-BR in Brazil, estimate the risk perception and preventive measures for COVID-19 among health professionals in Brazil, test possible associations between these two results, and carry out the validation of these EIQ-BR scales. Method: This cross-sectional study is an excerpt from the research "Assessment of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the emotional well-being and psychological adjustment of health professionals and the general population". The sampling method used in the mother research was the non-probabilistic, snowball type, which obtained 1880 responses from Brazilian health workers. The inclusion criteria to participate in this study were: being a health professional, being over 18 years old, and living in Brazil. The EIQ-BR has 9 questions about risk perception and 9 about adherence to prevention measures. For data analysis, the results obtained in each question will be summed into scores. Possible associations between the results will also be tested through models adjusted to the ways in which the scores will be treated, that is, as continuous, categorical, polynomial, or dichotomous variables. Furthermore, to determine whether the EIQ-BR actually measures risk perception, an item response analysis will be performed using Cronbach's Alpha. Expected results: The findings of this research can be used to develop preventive interventions against COVID-19, aimed at health professionals.(AU)