Study of the Sudanese perceptions of COVID-19: Applying the Health Belief Model

  1. Elwalid F. Nasir
  2. Hatim Mohammed Almahdi Yagoub
  3. Ahmed Khalid Alhag

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Abstract

Background

COVID-19 a pandemic declared by WHO, is the first in recent history pose challenges on public health. Health Belief Model is a psychosocial model explains and predicts health-related behaviours. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of the Sudanese on COVID-19-related preventive measures.

Methods

A Cross-sectional study using online-questionnaire was conducted between 1 st -16 th April 2020 among Sudanese adults (aged ≥18 years). We used a snowball sampling technique, starting from known professional and social media groups, and individuals and then was distributed on various internet platforms. The survey instrument was based on HBM constructs.

Results

Some 877 individuals participated in the survey with a mean age 37.8 (SD±11.94) more males, mostly having a university education, employed and residing in Khartoum. More than half of the participants scored high in almost all Health Belief Model constructs, except for benefits of hand hygiene. The findings show that the HBM constructs are correlated to each other’s as well as to other socio-demographic factors. Self-efficacy correlated negatively with susceptibility (r −0.084), while positively with severity, benefits of and barriers to hand hygiene, benefits and barriers to social distancing (r 0.117, r 0.347, r 0.202, r 0.396, r 0.276), respectively.

Conclusion

The findings show that the HBM constructs are correlated to each other’s as well as to other socio-demographic factors. Self-efficacy must be taken into account as a strong changing factor to susceptibility and severity perceptions. Correlations found in this study might help drive behaviour-changing efforts.

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  1. Version published to 10.1101/2020.05.28.20115477v2 on medRxiv
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.05.28.20115477: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: If a participant filled and submitted the form, it was considered as a consent to the participation.
    IRB: This study obtained approval from the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Science and Technology, Omdurman, Sudan UST.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableThis pilot was conducted, including 20 participants (male, female).

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Data analysis: We analyzed data using the Statistical Package for the Social Science, version 23 (IBM SPSS).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Hence, communication strategies in Sudan should follow a balance between breaking through optimism bias without inducing excessive fear Strengths and limitations: An apparent strength of this study is that data collection took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the threat was regarded as high, and the scenarios were not based on hypothetical situations. Another strength is that this study is based on HBM, enabling analysis and comparison with other studies using the model to explain health behaviour. Although these findings give valuable insight into health behaviours among the Sudanese population, several limitations should be noted. Using a web-based questionnaire might lead to selection bias. The only internet users who responded to our online questionnaire were not fully representative of the general population. Therefore, findings of this study should be cautiously interpreted and generalized. Considering use of self-report questionnaires, cross-sectional design, low response rate and small sample size. Conclusions: The findings show that the HBM constructs are correlated to each other’s as well as to other socio-demographic factors. Self-efficacy must be taken into account as a strong changing factor to susceptibility and severity perceptions. Correlations found in this study might be helpful in driving behavior –changing efforts.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.05.28.20115477v1 on medRxiv