Predictors of older adults’ health behaviours to prevent COVID-19 transmission: a multilevel analysis

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e083890
• Main Authors: Lee, Jiwon, Seok, Jo Woon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 10.09.2024; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Access to information; Adaptation, Psychological; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; behavior; Body mass index; Confounding (Statistics); Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Economic activity; Family income; Female; Health Behavior; Health education; health equity; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health literacy; Health surveys; Households; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Knowledge; Male; Multilevel Analysis; Older people; Original Research; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Public Health; Regions; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; Social distancing; Social support; Stress; Variables; Republic of Korea; South Korea; COVID-19; aged; health equity; behavior; public health
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-083890
• ISSN: 2044-6055

ObjectivesWhile older adults showed higher mortality during COVID-19 pandemic, protective behaviours (knowledge regarding coping with COVID-19 symptoms and preventive behaviours) were highlighted to be important to prevent the spread of infection. This study aimed to identify individual and community-level variables influencing deficient knowledge regarding coping with COVID-19 and not-practicing COVID-19 of older adults during the pandemic.DesignThis is a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study using the 2020 Korea Community Health Survey (KCHS).Setting255 community public health centres nationwide, South Korea.Methods and analysisUsing 2020 KCHS data, multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted on 55 005 adults aged 65 years or older.ResultsOlder adults who reside alone, as opposed to with their spouse and who lack the support of another individual exhibited insufficient COVID-19 coping-related knowledge (OR: 1.142, p<0.001) and poor preventive behaviours (OR: 1.177, p<0.001). Furthermore, lower municipal social welfare budget levels were associated with worse health behaviours (OR: 0.062, p<0.001). Specifically, older adults living in rural areas were less likely to engage in COVID-19 preventive behaviours compared with those in urban areas (OR: 1.247, p<0.001). Additionally, the effectiveness of mass media as a motivating factor for adopting preventive measures was only significant in rural populations (OR: 0.944, p<0.05).ConclusionsBoth individual-level and community-level approaches are necessary as an initial response during the pandemic. Since elderly people living alone with low socioeconomic status are vulnerable groups with poor health behaviours, it is helpful to provide social support on how to respond to infectious diseases and manage symptoms. In addition, it is important to expand the municipal social welfare budget to promote health equity between regions through appropriate health behaviour education and the strengthening of public medical services.