Analysis of Community Behavioral Factors Influencing the Accuracy of Diarrhea Drug Use Using the Health Belief Model

Abstract

Diarrhea can be caused by infectious diseases that lead to relatively high morbidity and mortality rates. Diarrhea refers to a continuous flow of bowel movements that occurs suddenly and exceeds the normal limit, usually occurring more than 3 times in 24 hours and lasting less than 14 days. The Health Belief Model (HBM) can be used to identify factors that influence individual health behaviors. This study aimed to analyze the behavioral factors of the community towards the appropriate use of diarrhea drugs in the city of Biak Papua using the HBM. This was an observational study with a cross-sectional approach. There were 78 respondents and the data were analyzed using the Spearman rank test. According to the findings, each of the HBM components that were examined had a significant influence on the accuracy of drug use in diarrhea patients (p < 0.05). 15.2% of the respondents had a very precise accuracy, 46.2% had adequate accuracy, 24.4% had inaccurate accuracy, and 14.1% had very inaccurate accuracy. The correlation values of each perception were: perception of vulnerability = 0.549; perception of seriousness = 0.494; perception of obstacles = -0.371; perceived benefits = 0.226; and self-confidence = 0.513. It can be concluded that there is a relationship between behavior and accuracy in the use of diarrhea medicine in Biak City, Papua. Keywords: diarrhea, accuracy, Health Belief Model (HBM)