Relationship between Health Responsibility and Self-Care Behaviors related to COVID-19 in Citizens of Kurdistan Province

Self-care behaviors and commitment to health responsibility are regarded as measures against Covid-19 disease when there is no widespread access to vaccination. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between health responsibility and self-care behaviors related to Covid-19 in Kurdistan citizens.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 in Kurdistan province and included 1008 participants above 15 years of age. Using convenient sampling method, people referring to health centers were entered into the study. Online data collection was performed via Whats App or Telegram using Covid-19 Self-Care Behavior and Health Responsibility Questionnaires. Using SPSS software version 22, data analysis was performed by Spearman correlation and chi-square test.

The study included 642 women (63.7%) and 366 men (36.3%), with mean age of 38. 6 ± 11.63 years. The correlation between health responsibility and self-care behaviors was positive and significant (p <0.001, r = 0.33). Self-care behaviors and health responsibility were not significantly different in terms of age, occupation, marital status, and city of residence (p > 0.05). A higher proportion of women compared to men were in the category of good health responsibility (60.8% vs. 39.2) and self-care behaviors (67.8% vs. 32.2) (p <0.001).

In the epidemics of diseases such as Covid-19, and especially in the absence of widespread vaccination and effective treatment, emphasis on the importance of commitment to health responsibility in order to perform self-care behaviors is the most important measure for prevention and control of diseases.