Boloso Sore Woreda Health Office, Wolaita Zone Health Department, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.
School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.
Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2022 Nov;16(6):1051-1058. doi: 10.1111/irv.13042. Epub 2022 Aug 28.
COVID-19 remains a public health concern in lower income countries. Risk perception has been studied in different countries with different population groups. However, there have been few studies conducted risk perception on older adults and limited data from African continent. This study aimed to assess coronavirus disease low risk perception level and associated factors among older adults in Ethiopia.
We conducted a cross-sectional study among older adults in Areka town, Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia, from August 1, 2021, to August 30, 2021. Multi-stage sampling method was applied to select study participants. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire with the mobile application created with Open Data Kit mobile.
Overall, risk perception was fairly low. Risk perception was particularly low among individuals aged 65 to 74 years (AOR = 4.76, 95% CI: 2.35-9.64), poor practice on preventing coronavirus disease (AOR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.51-3.78), with low trust level in medical professionals (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.45-4.10), no history of coronavirus disease (AOR = 6.45, 95%CI [2.02-20.58]), and poor perceived self-efficacy for preventive practice (AOR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.43-3.54).
In the current study area, the perception of risk of coronavirus disease was affected by age, perceived self-efficacy, trust in medical professionals, preventive practice, and history of COVID-19. The findings of this study would help lower income countries to generate evidence-based policy decisions for older adults during the COVI-D-19 pandemic and future pandemic(s).
COVID-19 仍然是低收入国家的公共卫生关注点。不同国家和不同人群群体的风险感知已被研究。然而，针对老年人的风险感知研究较少，来自非洲大陆的数据有限。本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚老年人对冠状病毒病的低风险感知水平及其相关因素。
我们于 2021 年 8 月 1 日至 8 月 30 日在埃塞俄比亚南部沃尔塔地区的阿雷卡镇进行了一项横断面研究。采用多阶段抽样方法选择研究参与者。数据通过带有使用 Open Data Kit 移动应用程序创建的移动应用程序的结构化问卷收集。
总体而言，风险感知水平相当低。65 至 74 岁的个体（AOR=4.76，95%CI：2.35-9.64）、预防冠状病毒病的做法较差（AOR=2.39，95%CI：1.51-3.78）、对医疗专业人员信任度低（AOR=2.44，95%CI：1.45-4.10）、没有冠状病毒病史（AOR=6.45，95%CI [2.02-20.58]）和预防措施的自我效能感差（AOR=2.25，95%CI：1.43-3.54）的个体，风险感知特别低。
在当前研究地区，冠状病毒病风险感知受到年龄、自我效能感、对医疗专业人员的信任、预防措施和 COVID-19 史的影响。本研究结果将帮助低收入国家在 COVID-19 大流行期间和未来的大流行（s）期间为老年人制定基于证据的政策决策。
