Investigating the Association between Health Literacy and Fear of COVID-19 among Caregivers of the Elderly in Tehran, Iran

Caregivers' health literacy is an influential factor in the caregivers’ efficiency to meet the physiological and psychological needs of the elderly. The prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems of the elderly can be a reason for fear of infection in their caregivers. This study aimed to investigate the fear of COVID-19 in caregivers and its relationship with their health literacy. This cross-sectional study was performed on 400 caregivers of the elderly, living in Tehran, Iran during the Summer of 2021. The tools consisted of health literacy, fear of COVID-19, awareness, attitude, and performance were collected through questionnaires. The data was gathered by using an online questionnaire. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS ver.23 with Pearson correlation and regression, and independent t-test. 23.  For each increased unit of the health literacy score, the fear of COVID-19 score decreased by 0.185 units (P =0.025). The mean score of health literacy was 75.89 ±14.51 in caregivers of the elderly. The mean score of fear of COVID-19 was 19.42 ±5.02 in caregivers of the elderly. For each increased unit of the health literacy score, the awareness score increases by 0.311 units, the attitude score increases by 0.638 units, and the performance score also increase by 0.214 units.  As health literacy increases, the fear of COVID-19 decreases. In addition, most health caregivers have adequate levels of health literacy. It is suggested to set educational policies to increase the health literacy of the caregivers whose health literacy level is not desirable.