KNOWLEDGE, FEAR, AND PREVENTIVE COVID-19 BEHAVIOR IN PREGNANT WOMEN IN INDONESIA

The spread of COVID-19 is currently getting wider. It is across regions and countries,
accompanied by an increase in the number of cases and many deaths every day. Circulating
information affects people's knowledge about COVID-19, although this does not determine
their understanding of COVID-19. Knowledge and fear will encourage a person to behave well.
Good knowledge and great scare about COVID-19 can improve preventive behavior against
COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to determine knowing, fears, and preventive behavior
against COVID-19 in pregnant women in Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The
method used in this research was a descriptive study conducted on 100 pregnant women in
June-July 2021 in Tapian Dolok District, Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Simple random sampling was used in this research. Data was collected using a knowledge
questionnaire about COVID-19 (15 questions), a fear questionnaire using the Fear COVID-19
Scale (FCS-19S) (7 questions), and Preventive COVID-19 Behavior Scale (PCV-19BS)
questionnaire to determine preventive behavior (4 questions). The FCS-19S and PCV-19BS
questionnaires used a Likert scale (1-5). The reliability of the knowledge, fears, and preventive
behavior questionnaires were assessed based on Cronbach's Alpha of 0.748 each; 0.846; and
0.898, respectively. The data was presented in a frequency distribution table. The results
showed that most participants (79%) had a high level of knowledge about COVID-19, most
participants (72%) had a high level of fear of COVID-19, and almost all participants (95%) had
a high level of preventive behavior against COVID-19. Efforts should be made to overcome
fear and further research to find factors associated with fear of COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, fear, knowledge, preventive behavior, pregnant women