Association of fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors (PB) against COVID-19 in Iran

Introduction: The world is currently experiencing a pandemic of COVID-19. The pandemic may affect physicaland mental health. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the fear of COVID-19 and study the relationshipbetween fear of COVID-19 and preventive behaviors against COVID-19. Material and methods: We conducted a web-based cross-sectional study to evaluate the fear of COVID-19 andpreventive behaviors against COVID-19 among the volunteer population in Golestan Province, Iran in May 2020 andJune 2020. The online questionnaire included the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and the prevention behaviorsagainst COVID-19, which are used to assess the fear and prevention behaviors of the population, respectively.The data were presented by mean and frequency. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identifyfactors associated with Fear of COVID-19 at a significant level of 0.05 in Stata 14. Results: A total of 734 of the 900 individuals contacted completed the survey, with a participation rate of 81.5%.The mean age of the participants was 33.97 ± 10.68 years and 375 (51.9%) were females. The mean Fear ofCOVID-19 score in the participants was 19.69 ± 5.96. There was a significant positive correlation between Fearof COVID-19 and preventive behaviors (r = 0.19, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed participantswith a higher perceived threat of COVID-19, women, married participants, health workers and peoplewith underlying diseases had higher levels of fear of COVID-19. Conclusions: The fear of COVID-19 in Iranian society is high, which indicates the need to pay attention tothe mental health in pandemic conditions. Appropriate intervention action can be designed and implementedaccording to the factors that affect fear. In addition, it should be noted that people with less fear are less likelyto observe the COVID-19’s preventative behaviors

Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Lebanon Waterpipe Dependence Scale in a Sample of Iranian Waterpipe Smokers

Background: Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) has recently increased in Iran. There is no valid instrumentto measure the level of nicotine dependence among its consumers. This study was aimed to investigate thevalidity and reliability of the Lebanon Waterpipe Dependence Scale-11 (LWDS-11).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the year 2017 whereby 367 waterpipe smokers wererecruited from Golestan Province of Iran. LWDS-11 scale is composed of 4 subscales: 1) nicotine dependence,2) negative reinforcement, 3) psychological craving, and 4) positive reinforcement. The validity of thequestionnaire was examined using construct validity. Reliability of this scale was examined using test-retestreliability and internal consistency.Findings: The four-factor model for LWDS [comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.985, Tucker-Lewis index(TLI) = 0.979, standardised root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.059, root mean square error of approximation(RMSEA) = 0.049 (0.031, 0.061)] demonstrated good fit to this data. Cronbach’s α was 0.825 for totalscale and it was 0.818, 0.746, 0.624, and 0.670 for each individual subscale. The test-retest reliability of thescale was 0.925.Conclusion: All goodness of fit indices (GFIs) represented a good fit of model. The LWDS-11 scale had anappropriate remarkable validity and reliability for waterpipe consumers to measure the level of nicotinedependence and it appeared to be likely useful for utilizing in the clinical and epidemiological studies