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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1394957

Predictors of Fear of COVID-19 in a Low-income Country: Health Literacy is Important

Provisionally accepted
Soheila Ranjbaran Soheila Ranjbaran 1Khalil Maleki Chollou Khalil Maleki Chollou 1Salar Abedi-Nerbin Salar Abedi-Nerbin 2Towhid Babazadeh Towhid Babazadeh 1*
  • 1 Sarab Faculty of Medical Sciences, Sarab, East Azerbayjan, Iran
  • 2 Education Department of Ajabshir, Ajabshir, Iran, Ajabshir, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Excessive fear of a threatening condition or situation can result in individuals engaging in unhealthy behaviors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying the influential factors of fear can be effective in designing and implementing health-center interventions to control and reduce the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional design implemented in Iran in 2022. Participants were adults 18-65 years of age recruited randomly from primary Health Care Services Centers (HCSCs) by medical records (n=380, 64.7% female, mean (SD) age 32.14 ± 10.98 years) in urban and rural areas of the county. The data collection included a demographic form, Fear of COVID-19 questionnaire, Perceived Barriers of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, Self-efficacy, and Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) questionnaire. Results: It was determined that the fear of COVID-19 showed statistically significant differences according to gender (p-value= 0.013), education level (p-value= 0.001), and job status (p-value= 0.001). According to the hierarchical linear regression, educational level ((p-value= 0.001; β= 0.665), job (ß=0.126; p-value=0.018), self-efficacy (p-value= 0.015; β= 0.103), and Health Literacy (HL) (p-value= 0.001; β= 0.446) were significant predictors of fear of COVID-19. Also, among variables, educational level (p-value= 0.001; β= 0.665) and HL (p-value= 0.001; β= 0.446) were the most important predictors for fear of COVID-19. Discussion: This research shows that HL has a potential and determinative role in controlling fear of COVID-19. The findings can help healthy policymakers and healthcare providers design HLbased programs in similar epidemics and pandemic situations.

    Keywords: COVID-19, Fear, Health Literacy, Low income, Self-effcacy

    Received: 02 Mar 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ranjbaran, Maleki Chollou, Abedi-Nerbin and Babazadeh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Towhid Babazadeh, Sarab Faculty of Medical Sciences, Sarab, East Azerbayjan, Iran

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.