Community Outbreak Moderates the Association Between COVID-19-Related Behaviors and COVID-19 Fear Among Older People: A One-Year Longitudinal Study in Taiwan

Yi-Jie Kuo; Yu-Pin Chen; Hsiao-Wen Wang; Chieh-Hsiu Liu; Carol Strong; Mohsen Saffari; Nai-Ying Ko; Chung-Ying Lin; Mark D Griffiths

doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.756985

Community Outbreak Moderates the Association Between COVID-19-Related Behaviors and COVID-19 Fear Among Older People: A One-Year Longitudinal Study in Taiwan

Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Dec 17:8:756985. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.756985. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yi-Jie Kuo^{1

2}, Yu-Pin Chen^{1

2}, Hsiao-Wen Wang³, Chieh-Hsiu Liu⁴, Carol Strong⁵, Mohsen Saffari^{6

7}, Nai-Ying Ko⁸, Chung-Ying Lin^{5

9

10

11}, Mark D Griffiths¹²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁴ National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁶ Health Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁷ Health Education Department, Faculty of Health, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁸ Department of Nursing, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁹ Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹¹ Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹² International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Although health behavior theories indicate that fear is effective in activating preventive behaviors, the question of whether COVID-19 severity moderates the association between fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors remains unclear. The present study investigated the association between the fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 community outbreak of two severity levels in Taiwan. Data were obtained regarding the fear of COVID-19 and practice of preventive behaviors from 139 older people (mean age = 71.73 years; 30.2% men) through in-person interviews during a mild COVID-19 outbreak period (baseline assessment). Data from 126 of the 139 participants were obtained again through a telephone interview during a severe COVID-19 outbreak period (follow-up assessment). A significant increase in the fear of COVID-19 (d = 0.39, p < 0.001) and a decrease in preventive behaviors (d = 0.63, p < 0.001) were found in the follow-up assessment. The association between fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors was not significant at baseline (r = -0.07, p > 0.05) but became significant at the follow-up assessment (r = 0.32, p < 0.001). The severity of a COVID-19 outbreak may alter older people's psychological status and related behaviors.

Keywords: COVID-19; behavior; fear; geriatric; psychological distress.