Evaluating Self-care Barriers in Prevention of Covid-19 According to Healthcare Experts and Laypersons: A Mixed Study

The recent Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in a sudden outbreak which has significantly affected various aspects of daily lives. This study was carried out to determine self-care barriers in prevention of Covid-19 according to healthcare experts and laypersons.

A qualitative-quantitative based cross-sectional research was designed. To perform the qualitative phase, group discussion with faculty members and managers in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and phone interviews with laypersons were carried out. Then, data extracted in this phase were used to design a 40-item questionnaire which was found to be reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.90), to be completed by Iranian citizens in four days via social networks. In this survey, 1056 people participated. Data analysis was done in SPSS V21.

Self-care barriers according to the qualitative phase of the study included social barriers, psychological barriers, religious barriers, political and management barriers, healthcare system barriers, and information barriers. Political and management barriers (mean score=78.87) and psychological barriers (belief, behavior, personality) (mean score=70.01) were found to be the major self-care barriers. The mean self-care score was 8.5 (in a scale of 0 to 10). The mean self-care scores were significantly higher in women (P<0.0001) and in people with higher levels of education (P=0.007). No significant difference was observed in mean self-care score based on marital status (P=0.61) and occupation (P=0.052).

Health care managers and policymakers could guide people towards more efficient self-care by planning to reduce and overcome barriers identified in this study.