Preventive behavior of Vietnamese people in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

We sought to evaluate the adherence of Vietnamese adults to COVID-19 preventive measures, and gain insight into the effects of the epidemic on the daily lives of Vietnamese people. An online questionnaire survey was organized from March 31 to April 6, 2020. The questionnaire assessed preventive behavior using multiple answer responses to indicate the extent of adherence. In total, 2175 respondents completed the questionnaire (age range: 18-69 years). The mean adherence scores for personal and community preventive measures were 7.23 ± 1.63 (range 1-9) and 9.57 ± 1.12 (range 1-11), respectively. Perceived adaptation of the community to lockdown (β=2.64, 95% CI 1.25 −4.03), fears/worries concerning one′s health (β=2.87, 95% CI 0.04-5.70), residing in large cities (β=19.40, 95% CI 13.78-25.03), access to official COVID19 information sources (β=16.45, 95% CI 6.82-26.08), and belonging to the healthcare sector (β=22.53, 95% CI 16.00-29.07) were associated with a higher adherence score to anti −COVID instructions. The study indicates excellent preventive behavior of the Vietnamese population which explains the low number of COVID-19 infections and zero recorded mortality up to the first week of May 2020. Further monitoring is recommended to assess the sustainability of COVID-19 prevention via behavior change in the medium and long-term.