Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA, United States.
Front Public Health. 2022 Oct 27;10:965897. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.965897. eCollection 2022.
Both individual and policy level perceived control are known to be positively related to preventive behavior, and both may differ among healthcare graduate students with different cultural backgrounds. This study compared the preventive health behavior and perceived control among domestic and international healthcare graduate students in Japan and the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, and analyzed factors associated with preventive health behavior and perceived control.
The study used a self-administered online survey, conducted at two universities in Japan and one university in the United States. The survey included sociodemographic data and scales of preventive health behaviors, perceived control (policy level), and perceived health competence (individual level). Association among variables were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
A total of 610 students (485 domestic and 125 international) in Japan and 231 students (220 domestic and 11 international) in the United States completed the survey. Participants' average age was 31.3 years, and 67.0% were female. Model fit of structural equation modeling was good (χ = 9.419, = 0.151, comparative fit index = 0.995, RMSEA = 0.026). Japanese students had better preventive health behavior than American (β = -0.407, < 0.001) and international students in both countries (β = -0.112, < 0.001). However, Japanese students had significantly lower perceived control than American students (β = 0.346, < 0.001) and international students in both countries (β = 0.188, < 0.001). Overall higher perceived control (β = 0.175, < 0.001) and being female (β = 0.141, < 0.001) were significantly associated with better preventive behavior. Although higher perceived control was related to higher perceived health competence (β = 0.295, < 0.001), perceived health competence was not associated with preventive behavior (β = 0.025, = 0.470). Religion was not associated with perceived control or preventive behavior.
Nationality was identified as the main factor associated with both perceived control and preventive behavior. Policy level perceived control was more strongly associated with preventive health behavior than individual level perceived health competence. Further investigations in the contribution of specific cultural dimensions associated with perceived control and preventive behaviors are recommended.
个人和政策层面的感知控制与预防行为呈正相关，而且在具有不同文化背景的医疗保健专业研究生中可能存在差异。本研究比较了 COVID-19 大流行期间日本和美国国内和国际医疗保健专业研究生的预防保健行为和感知控制，并分析了与预防保健行为和感知控制相关的因素。
本研究使用了一种自我管理的在线调查，在日本的两所大学和美国的一所大学进行。调查包括社会人口统计学数据以及预防保健行为、感知控制（政策层面）和感知健康能力（个人层面）的量表。使用结构方程模型分析变量之间的关联。
共有 610 名学生（日本 485 名，国际 125 名）和 231 名学生（美国 220 名，国际 11 名）完成了调查。参与者的平均年龄为 31.3 岁，67.0%为女性。结构方程模型的拟合度良好（χ=9.419，=0.151，比较拟合指数=0.995，RMSEA=0.026）。与美国和国际学生相比，日本学生的预防保健行为更好（β=-0.407，<0.001）。然而，与美国学生相比，日本学生的感知控制显著较低（β=0.346，<0.001），与两国的国际学生相比，感知控制也较低（β=0.188，<0.001）。整体而言，感知控制越高（β=0.175，<0.001）和女性（β=0.141，<0.001）与更好的预防行为显著相关。尽管感知控制越高与感知健康能力越高相关（β=0.295，<0.001），但感知健康能力与预防行为无关（β=0.025，=0.470）。宗教与感知控制或预防行为无关。
国籍被确定为与感知控制和预防行为都相关的主要因素。政策层面的感知控制与预防保健行为的相关性强于个人层面的感知健康能力。建议进一步研究与感知控制和预防行为相关的特定文化维度的贡献。
