Factors Related to University Students’ COVID-19 Vaccination Behavior: With a Focus on One University In Chungcheongnam-do

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the factors of university student group’s behavior regarding COVID-19 vaccination. The independent variables consisted of sociodemographic characteristics, health beliefs regarding COVID-19, knowledge on COVID-19, as well as health lifestyle and habits (smoking and drinking). A questionnaire was prepared through review of previous studies to proceed with the study, which was responded by 565 respondents. Stata version 16.0 was used for data analysis. Key findings are as follows. The student’s year of study and college as sociodemographic characteristics affected vaccination, and health belief factors such as perceived barrier and self-efficacy affected vaccination. Furthermore, among the healthy living risk factors, tobacco use affected vaccination. Based on these findings, suggestions were proposed to increase vaccination rates such as need for follow-up studies to know the difference in vaccination, the necessity for opening mandatory college classes on infectious diseases, and need for national intervention to verify the safety of vaccines.