Comparing Fear of COVID-19 and Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Between Iranian and Taiwanese Older People: Early Reaction May Be a Key

Amir H Pakpour; Chieh-Hsiu Liu; Wen-Li Hou; Yu-Pin Chen; Yueh-Ping Li; Yi-Jie Kuo; Chung-Ying Lin; Damian Scarf

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.740333

Comparing Fear of COVID-19 and Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Between Iranian and Taiwanese Older People: Early Reaction May Be a Key

Front Public Health. 2021 Sep 23:9:740333. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.740333. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Amir H Pakpour^{1

2}, Chieh-Hsiu Liu³, Wen-Li Hou^{4

5}, Yu-Pin Chen^{6

7}, Yueh-Ping Li⁸, Yi-Jie Kuo^{6

7}, Chung-Ying Lin^{9

10

11}, Damian Scarf¹²

Affiliations

¹ Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
² Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
³ National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Nursing, National Tainan Junior College of Nursing, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁹ Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹¹ Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹² Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Abstract

This study assessed fear of the novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19), preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors, and the association between fear of COVID-19 and preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among older people in Iran and Taiwan. Older people aged over 60 years (n = 144 for Iranians and 139 for Taiwanese) completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and two items on preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors (i.e., hand washing and mouth covering when sneezing). Iranian older people had a significantly higher level of fear of COVID-19 than did Taiwanese older people. Moreover, Iranian older people had significantly lower frequencies of preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors than did Taiwanese older people. Different timings in implementing COVID-19 infection control policies in Iran and Taiwan may explain why Iranian older people had greater fear of COVID-19 and lower preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors than did Taiwanese older people.

Keywords: COVID-19; Iran; Taiwan; elder; infection preventive behavior.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19*
Fear
Health Behavior
Humans
Iran / epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2