Shanghai University, Asian Demographic Research Institute, Shanghai, China.
Ann Med. 2023;55(2):2258893. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2258893. Epub 2023 Sep 19.
Understanding the discernment of individuals about their health is crucial during public health situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this theme of study is how older adults perceive their vulnerabilities because it can relate to subsequent disease preventing behaviour. The analysis explored optimism bias, or the perception of infection avoidance, regarding COVID-19 among lower-income Thais aged 60 and over. The study utilized an analytic sample of 2,139 individuals from the 2021 Survey on Housing and Support Services for Poor Older Adults. Logit regression model analysis was conducted, using optimistic bias as the outcome variable. Increasing age and residing in urban areas were associated with a higher likelihood of bias. On the other hand, higher educational attainment was found to decrease the association with optimistic bias, indicating higher perception of risks. Adherence of older individuals to the residence-in-place policy might have contributed to perception of lower infection risks. Urban residents had better access to welfare benefits and medical facilities, which led to reduced worry and greater optimistic bias. Greater understanding of the disease and preventive strategies offer insights on how higher education levels lead to perceiving possible risks surrounding COVID-19.
了解个人对自身健康的认知在公共卫生事件中至关重要，例如 COVID-19 大流行期间。在此研究主题中，老年人如何感知自身脆弱性很重要，因为这可能与后续的疾病预防行为有关。本分析探讨了在泰国民众中，收入较低的 60 岁及以上老年人对 COVID-19 的乐观偏见（或对感染的回避感知）。该研究使用了 2021 年贫困老年人住房和支持服务调查的分析样本，其中包括 2139 名参与者。采用 Logit 回归模型分析，将乐观偏见作为因变量。研究结果表明，年龄增长和居住在城市地区与更高的偏见可能性相关。另一方面，较高的教育程度与乐观偏见的关联度降低，表明对风险的感知更高。老年人对就地居住政策的遵守可能导致他们对感染风险的认知较低。城市居民更容易获得福利和医疗设施，这减少了他们的担忧，增加了乐观偏见。对疾病和预防策略的更深入了解，有助于理解为什么较高的教育水平会导致对 COVID-19 相关风险的感知。
