Preventive behaviors and psychological effects of COVID-19 and their associated factors among Iranian older adults: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a variety of psychological complications. One way to control the spread of this pandemic is compliance with health protocols and standards. Considering the limited research into the psychological effects of COVID-19 and the preventive behaviors among older adults, this study aimed to determine these variables and their relationship with associated factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 153 older adults who were referred to the clinic of Pirouz Hospital in the east of Guilan, in the north of Iran, in 2022. The research instruments included the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the preventive behavior questionnaires. Descriptive (mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage) and inferential (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests) statistics were used to analyze the data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20 with a significant level of 0.05. RESULTS: The findings showed that the overall mean score for preventive behaviors was 107 ± 10.38. The highest mean score of preventive behaviors was related to personal behavior (43.00 ± 5.58) and instructions to enter the house (30.15 ± 4.84), respectively. The highest mean scores of psychological effects were related to the intrusion dimension (11 ± 5.33) and avoidance dimension (7 ± 4.74), respectively. There was a significant relationship between drug use (F = 27.136, P = 0.028) and the psychological effects of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, the general condition of the preventive behaviors of older adults was average, and the majority of them were at a normal level of psychological effects. However, administrators and health policymakers should consider planning to develop interventions to encourage and improve preventive behaviors against COVID-19, especially among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.