Psychiatry Research EG

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly in the world, and on 11 March 2020, WHO announced the outbreak a global pandemic. Given the severity of this major outbreak and the importance of prevention and protection against the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the predictors of engaging in the preventive behaviours could potentially be of great practical importance as it could help us identify high-risk groups and take the necessary steps towards improving their health behaviour. As the health behavioural response of the Egyptian population during COVID-19 is unknown and the health belief model constructs can be used to explain health behaviour, this study was conducted to assess the preventive behaviours to COVID-19 and the associated role of health belief model constructs over three periods of time; at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic then 4?weeks and10?weeks later. Results Perceived severity and benefits of health belief model constructs showed significant decrease in the 2nd interview, followed by an increase in the 3rd interview (P?