Abstract:
Background: COVID-19 is the major public health problem of the century for human beings
and it is becoming more serious on individuals with chronic medical conditions. Individual’s risk
perception of COVID-19 is crucial and it will contribute to taking the required action to prevent
the health problem. Therefore, this study aims to assess COVID-19 preventive practices and
associated factors among chronic disease follow-up clients using the health belief model in
Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC), Jimma, Ethiopia.
Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed from June 04 to July
03, 2021. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data on
socio-demographic, knowledge, and risk perception of COVID-19 using the health belief model
with a five-scale measurment. The data were entered into Epi-data and exported to SPSS version
20.0 for Windows for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to
identify the significantly associated factors with the prevention practice of COVID-19. The level
of significance was reported at p<0.05.
Results: A total of 395 chronic disease patients with clinical follow-up in JUMC were included
in this study (response rate=99.5%). The prevalence of COVID-19 protective practice was
39.5%. The overall standardized mean and standard deviation score of perceived susceptibility,
perceived severity, perceived benefit, self-efficacy, perceived barrier, and cues to action of
COVID-19 disease was 82.17(±5.25), 83.81(±6.59), 82.97(±5.93), 70.91(±12.54), 65.26(±11.67)
and 41.48(±8.35) respectively. The respondent’s knowledge had a standardized mean score of
88.42(±5.39). On multivariable analysis the study showed that urban dwellers
(AOR=2.790(1.118-6.963)), earning greater than 4800 ETB per month (AOR=2.705(1.493-
4.899)), education level 7-12 grades (AOR=2.400(1.092-5.278)), knowledge about COVID-19
(AOR=1.455(1.076-1.968)), perceived susceptibility (AOR=1.328(1.042-1.692)), perceived
severity (AOR=1.207(1.033-1.410)), and perceived benefit (AOR=1.237(1.043-1.468)) were
significantly associated with COVID-19 preventive behavior.
Conclusion and recommendation: The patients’ actual practice of preventing COVID-19 was
low compared to studies conducted among chronic disease patients. This indicates that chronic
disease patients at JUMC are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 illness, and maybe
seriously affected by the wave of the pandemic. Health education on prevention measures must
be provided focusing on individuals with low economic status and less knowledge, based on
their perceived susceptibility and severity
