Occupational health hazards and preventive behaviors among Sub-district Health Promoting Hospitals personnel in Mueang Khon Kaen District, Khon Kaen Province: A case study of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze occupational health hazards and preventive behaviors among sub-district health-promoting hospital personnel in Mueang Khon Kaen District, Khon Kaen Province: a Case Study of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The participants were composed of 163 personnel. The research instruments were questionnaires. The data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation, minimum maximum, and inferential statistics using Chi-square and Pearson correlation. The statistical significance level of 0.05. The study indicated that personnel occupational health hazards and exposure referring to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were at the moderate level, 58.28 (  = 2.14, S.D. = 0.40).  For preventive behaviors, most of them were at a good level, 92.64 (  = 2.73, S.D. = 0.20). When analyzing the relationship, it was found that gender, age, duration of work, and respiratory specimen collection training showed a statistically significant correlation with the likelihood of exposure to occupational health hazards at a significant level of 0.05 (p<0.05). Meanwhile, personal characteristics were not related to preventive behaviors, and preventive behaviors were not related to the likelihood of exposure to occupational health hazards at level 0.05 (r = 0.050 p = 0.5246). Therefore, personnel should be aware of the risk of exposure to the coronavirus disease 2019, and the concerned agencies should use it as a guideline for determining the appropriate allocation of working periods and breaks during working hours. Attention should also be paid to training to educate personnel, especially in the matter of training in respiratory specimen collection (nasopharyngeal swabs).