Preventive Behaviors and Influencing Factors among Thai Residents in Endemic Areas during the Highest Epidemic Peak of the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

This research aims to investigate COVID-19 preventive behavior and influencing factors among Thai residents during the highest epidemic peak of COVID-19. Nine hundred and forty-six residents in five districts with high COVID-19 infection cases in Thailand were systematically included in this cross-sectional survey. The results showed that 87.2% and 65.2% of the residents had a high level of general knowledge and preventive measures, respectively. As to COVID-19 attitudes, poor levels of attitude among Thai residents were found in risk perception (53.6%) and mistrust issues (70.4%). Moreover, this study presents good preventive behavior (77.0%) among Thai residents. Multiple logistic regression showed that the influence factors of COVID-19 preventive behavior were the young age group (AOR 2.97, 95% CI 1.68–5.25), high income (AOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.03–1.86), and high level of general COVID-19 knowledge (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.64–2.96). The conclusion was that providing information on COVID-19 via social media was the key mechanism of policy action for increasing the level of COVID-19 preventive behavior during the highest epidemic peak in Thailand. In addition, the pandemic preparedness and response policy, with resident participation and involvement, could be recommended for the resilience of pandemic preparedness.