Mehdi Gholian-Aval, Mr Hadi Tehrani, Maryam Salari, Marzieh Mohammadi,
Volume 8, Issue 3 (9-2023)
Abstract
Background : coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is a new and contagious disease. Elderly and immunocompromised people with other underlying diseases are severely affected by Covid-19 and have higher mortality rates. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating related factors on the preventive behaviors of covid-19 in the elderly 60-75 years old in Mashhad based on the protection motivation theory.
method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 1400 on 270 elderly people aged 60-75 years covered by health care centers in Mashhad. Random sampling was done from 5 health centers in Mashhad city and according to the covered population. The desired information was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and self-reporting. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 27 software
Results: Based on the research findings, perceived self-efficacy was found to be the strongest significant predictor (P>0.001, β=0.340) of preventive behaviors against Covid-19. The highest mean related to the structure of perceived response efficiency (23.13 ± 1.99) and the lowest mean related to the fear structure (12.14 ± 3.34) were calculated. Also, the constructs of protection motivation theory predict 67% of the variance of corona prevention behaviors in the elderly.
Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that by using the theory of protection motivation, it is possible to predict preventive behaviors against covid-19. According to the obtained results, the constructs of perceived sensitivity, perceived response efficiency, perceived self-efficacy and protection motivation are effective in explaining protective behaviors. By increasing knowledge, awareness and identifying disease prevention strategies, people's self-efficacy also increases and more people try to observe the desired behaviors.