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. 2020 May 29;17(11):3869.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17113869.

Sociodemographic Predictors of Health Risk Perception, Attitude and Behavior Practices Associated with Health-Emergency Disaster Risk Management for Biological Hazards: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong, SAR China

Emily Ying Yang Chan  1   2   3 , Zhe Huang  1 , Eugene Siu Kai Lo  1 , Kevin Kei Ching Hung  1   4 , Eliza Lai Yi Wong  3 , Samuel Yeung Shan Wong  3
Affiliations

Sociodemographic Predictors of Health Risk Perception, Attitude and Behavior Practices Associated with Health-Emergency Disaster Risk Management for Biological Hazards: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong, SAR China

Emily Ying Yang Chan et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

In addition to top-down Health-Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) efforts, bottom-up individual and household measures are crucial for prevention and emergency response of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). There is limited scientific evidence of the knowledge, perception, attitude and behavior patterns of the urban population. A computerized randomized digital dialing, cross-sectional, population landline-based telephone survey was conducted from 22 March to 1 April 2020 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Data were collected for socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and risk perception, and various self-reported Health-EDRM behavior patterns associated with COVID-19. The final study sample was 765. Although the respondents thought that individuals (68.6%) had similar responsibilities as government (67.5%) in infection control, less than 50% had sufficient health risk management knowledge to safeguard health and well-being. Among the examined Health-EDRM measures, significant differences were found between attitude and practice in regards to washing hands with soap, ordering takeaways, wearing masks, avoidance of visiting public places or using public transport, and travel avoidance to COVID-19-confirmed regions. Logistic regression indicated that the elderly were less likely to worry about infection with COVID-19. Compared to personal and household hygiene practices, lower compliance was found for public social distancing.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health-Emergency and Disaster Risk Management; Hong Kong,; PHEIC; biological hazard; health risks; pandemic; urban.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Timeline of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong and the preventive measures implemented by the Hong Kong government. (b) The confirmed cases in Hong Kong from 23 January 2020 to 16 April 2020. Note: (1) to (6) in Figure 1b correspond to (1) to (6) in Figure 1a.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The algorithm of the final data collection.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Self-reported large or very large impacts of COVID-19 on various dimensions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Reported believed transmission mode for COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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