Kwan Rick Yiu Cho, Lee Paul Hong, Cheung Daphne Sze Ki, Lam Simon Ching
School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Centre for Gerontological Nursing, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Feb 5;8:590936. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.590936. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 100 countries. Despite the global shortage of face masks, the public has adopted universal mask wearing as a preventive measure in many Asian countries. The COVID-19 mortality rate is higher among older people, who may find that wearing a face mask protects their physical health but jeopardizes their mental health. This study aimed to explore the associations between depressive symptoms, health beliefs, and face mask wearing behaviors among older people. By means of an online survey conducted between March and April 2020, we assessed depressive symptoms, health beliefs regarding COVID-19, and face mask use and reuse among community-dwelling older people. General linear models were employed to explore the associations among these variables. Of the 355 valid participants, 25.6% experienced depressive symptoms. Health beliefs regarding the perceived severity of disease ( = 0.001) and perceived efficacy of practicing preventive measures ( = 0.005) were positively associated with face mask use. Those who reused face masks ( = 0.008) had a stronger belief in disease severity ( < 0.001), had poorer cues to preventive measures ( = 0.002), and were more likely to experience depressive symptoms. Mask reuse was significantly associated with depression only among those who perceived the disease as serious ( = 0.025) and those who had poorer cues to preventive measures ( = 0.004). In conclusion, health beliefs regarding perceived severity and efficacy contributed to more frequent face mask use, which was unrelated to depressive symptoms. Older people who had a stronger belief in disease severity had less adequate cues to preventive measures and reused face masks experienced greater depressive symptoms. A moderation effect of health beliefs (i.e., disease severity and cues to preventive measures) on face mask reuse and depression was observed.
新冠疫情已波及100多个国家。尽管全球口罩短缺，但在许多亚洲国家，公众已普遍将佩戴口罩作为一种预防措施。新冠死亡率在老年人中更高，他们可能发现佩戴口罩虽能保护身体健康，但却会损害心理健康。本研究旨在探讨老年人抑郁症状、健康信念与口罩佩戴行为之间的关联。通过在2020年3月至4月间开展的一项在线调查，我们评估了社区居住老年人的抑郁症状、对新冠的健康信念以及口罩的使用和重复使用情况。采用一般线性模型来探究这些变量之间的关联。在355名有效参与者中，25.6%出现了抑郁症状。对疾病严重程度的感知（=0.001）和对采取预防措施有效性的感知（=0.005）等健康信念与口罩使用呈正相关。重复使用口罩的人（=0.008）对疾病严重程度的信念更强（<0.001），采取预防措施的线索更少（=0.002），且更易出现抑郁症状。仅在那些认为疾病严重的人（=0.025）和采取预防措施线索较少的人（=0.004）中，口罩重复使用与抑郁显著相关。总之，对严重程度和有效性的健康信念促使更频繁地使用口罩，这与抑郁症状无关。对疾病严重程度信念更强的老年人采取预防措施的线索不足，且重复使用口罩的人抑郁症状更严重。观察到健康信念（即疾病严重程度和预防措施线索）对口罩重复使用和抑郁有调节作用。
