Anxiety over the Spread of COVID-19 and its related Factors among Older Adults in Bangkok

Abstract

Background: Older adults are the population most at risk of death from the outbreak of COVID-19. Promotion of health literacy and COVID-19 prevention behavior among older adults is needed to lessen their anxiety. Objective: To analyze the relationships among age, health literacy, health behavior, and anxiety over the spread of COVID-19 among older adults in Bangkok. Methods: The participants were 480 male and female Thai older adults aged 60 and over who lived in Bangkok as listed in the household registration. A multi-stage sampling was used to select the participants. The research tools were interview forms covering data about personal information, health literacy, and health behavior. The research period was from September to November 2022. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis through an SPSS (version 24) Results: Older adults in Bangkok had a high level of anxiety over the spread of COVID-19 ( = 16.02, SD = 5.22). Health literacy (r =−0.220) and health behavior (r =−0.390) were associated with the anxiety of older adults at a statistical significance level of 0.05 and could significantly predict 16.5% of older adults’ anxiety. Conclusion: A holistic system or approach should be established to promote older adults’ access to health services and enhance their health literacy in preventing COVID-19. This will make them have appropriate health behavior, be able to prevent the disease continuously, and have less anxiety during the COVID-19 outbreak.