FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RISK PERCEPTION AND PREVENTIVE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS COVID-19 INFECTION AMONG AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS IN KUALA LUMPUR

Abstract

The novel outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was an unexpected event for African immigrants in the world as well as African immigrants in Kuala Lumpur. The prevalence of COVID-19 infection has persistently escalated in Malaysia with daily cases of approximately 5000 new positives with most of the cases from Selangor, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, and Sarawak by 14^th June 2021. Moreover, among individuals who were tested, the percentage of positive patients are higher in non-citizens compared to Malaysian citizens. The African immigrants belong to the vulnerable groups because of low socio-economic living conditions and lack of sufficient data on their health status regarding to the COVID -19 pandemic. This study aims to determine the factors associated with risk perception and preventive behaviour towards COVID-19 infection among African immigrants in Kuala Lumpur. The current research will be conducted on 442 African immigrants recruited by simple random method. A validated self-administered questionnaire will be used as data will be analysed using SPSS version 26. This research utilises descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis carried out to determine the preventive behaviours and factors associated with preventive behaviour on COVID-19 infection using Chi-square test. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis using the logistic regression was conducted to determine the predictors of preventive behaviours. This study is expected to demonstrate the predictors of risk perception and preventive behaviour towards COVID-19 infection among African immigrants in Kuala Lumpur. The findings are important to inform policy makers on specific strategies that can be used in preventing the COVID-19 pandemic among this vulnerable population.