self-care behaviors related to covid-19 among iranian elderly with and without a history of infection

Background & aim: adopting self-care behaviors is considered an important factor in the prevention of covid-19. therefore, this study was conducted to investigate self-care behaviors related to covid-19 among iranian elderly with and without a history of infection. methods & materials: this descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 324 elderlies in iran in 2021. eligible seniors were selected by convenience sampling and placed into two groups: the elderly with a history of covid-19 and the elderly without it. the data collection tools included the demographic form and the questionnaire on self-care behaviors during the covid-19 pandemic. data analysis was done with spss software version 25 using descriptive (frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics (mann-whitney u-test and independent t-test). results: 165 men (50.90%) and 159 women (49.10%) participated in this study. the mean age of the participants was 70.60 ± 8.73. the results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the self-care behaviors of the elderly with a history of covid-19 and those without it; the elderly with a history of covid-19 had more favorable self-care behaviors (p<0.001). conclusion: a history of covid-19 results in better self-care behaviors. it can be justified by constructs of the health beliefs model, including perceived susceptibility, severity, and treatment. therefore, it is necessary to improve self-care behaviors by using the experiences of infected elders in health education to influence the above mention constructs.