Are COVID-19 Protective Behaviours and Risk Perception More Common in Diabetic Women than Non-Diabetics?

Diabetic patients are more likely to be infected and are at the higher risk of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to compare the preventive behaviours and perceived risk of COVID-19 in women with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

The analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2020 on 151 participants. Among T2DM patients who were referred to Yazd diabetes center 79 patients were selected by using simple random sampling method. The healthy none diabetic participants (n=72) were selected from the patients' relatives. Data were collected by a validated questionnaire including demographic information, information about diabetes, information about protective behaviours and risk perception questions. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.

The mean (±SD) score of protective behaviours in the diabetic group was 24.34 (±3.05), which was significantly higher than the non-diabetic group (P: 0.001). The mean risk perception in the group of diabetic patients was slightly more than the group without diabetes but this difference was not statistically significant (P= 0.16). In general, there was a significant positive correlation between protective behaviours and risk perception in diabetic (r= 0.26; P< 0.01) and non-diabetic (r= 0.39; P< 0.001) groups

Increased perceived risk promotes preventive behaviours of COVID-19 among diabetic and non-diabetic people.