ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are becoming a public health problem in Ethiopia, especially among those who have limited physical activity. Although bank workers are at an increased risk of contracting CVD, their participation in CVD preventive activities is not studied in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the perception of bank workers towards CVD preventive behaviors and associated factors in Hossana town. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 258 participants from February 11 to 30/2020. A simple random sampling method was used to select study participants from the enumerated list of staff. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and the collected data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20 software. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were done. A p-value less than 0.05 with 95% CI was considered to declare an association between independent and dependent variables. RESULTS: A total of 253 respondents with response rate of 98.0% were participated. The study revealed that the likelihood of performing CVD preventive behaviors is 62.0%. Moreover, the study found that bank workers' exposure to passive smoking [AOR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.23-0.98], level of alcohol consumed [AOR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.01-0.54], regularly consuming fruit and vegetable in daily meal [AOR = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.03-0.80], perceived severity[AOR = 0.1;95% CI: 0.01-0.68], and cues to take action [AOR = 0.12;95% CI: 0.02-0.73] were identified as predictors of perception to engage in CVD preventive behaviors. CONCLUSION: The level of bank workers' perception of engaging in CVD preventive behavior was in a considerable state to design and implement intervention strategies. Behavior change communication should be strengthened to improve their knowledge and perception of the severity of CVD and barriers so as to improve the likelihood of taking action.
