Urban and Rural Disparities of Personal Health Behaviors and the Influencing Factors During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Based on an Extended IMB Model

Health behavior was conducive to control the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic. This study aimed to determine the differences in health behaviors and related factors among rural and urban residents in China. From February 14 to 22, 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, a tot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 2022-06, Vol.16 (3), p.880-884
Main Authors: Luo, Yetao, Yao, Lili, Hu, Ling, Zhou, Li, Yuan, Feng, Zhong, Xiaoni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Brief Report
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease transmission
Epidemics
Gender
Health behavior
Intervention
Perceptions
Personal health
Quality control
Questionnaires
Regression analysis
Rural areas
Rural populations
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Sociodemographics
Statistical analysis
Urban areas
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Summary:Health behavior was conducive to control the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic. This study aimed to determine the differences in health behaviors and related factors among rural and urban residents in China. From February 14 to 22, 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, a total of 2449 participants (1783 (72.81%) urban residents and 666 (27.19%) rural residents) were recruited by snowball sampling on WeChat and QQ social platforms, both owned by Tencent. Data were collected through the Web-questionnaire guided by an information-motivation-behavioral skills model. The multiple-group structural equation model was applied to analyze the factors. Rural residents had lower health behavior scores than urban residents, even after adjusting demographic characteristics (33.86 vs 34.29, P = 0.042; total score was 40). Motivational, behavioral skills, and stress had direct positive and negative influences on health behaviors of urban and rural residents. Information and positive perception of interventions had direct effects on health behaviors in rural residents, but not in urban residents. All the factors were mediated by behavioral skills in rural and urban residents. This study suggests that the government should pay attention to substantial rural and urban disparities and implement different COVID-19 prevention and intervention policies for health behaviors targeting rural and urban residents.
ISSN:1935-7893
1938-744X
DOI:10.1017/dmp.2020.457