Investigating the Extent of Coronaphobia and the Related Psycho-Social Variables in Iran

Background. The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused fear and anxiety in all societies. This study aimed to determine the level of panic and fear among citizens aged 20 years and older in East Azerbaijan province, Iran due to the emerging disease of COVID-19 and to determine the role of some related psychological and social variables.
Methods. This study utilized a survey method for data collection. The statistical population included all citizens over 20 years of age in East Azerbaijan province, Iran, while the statistical sample estimated to include 384 indviduals based on Lin sampling table with a 95% confidence level. We used a researcher-made questionnaire to collect data. The questionnaires were completed and collected in two stages in April 2020 and March 2021. The goal behind this time interval was to observe and compare the extent of coronaphobia changes. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to test the relationship among the variables, and analyze the collected data.
Results. About 45% of the participants were women. Also, 24% of the respondents were single. In terms of education, the highest frequency (39%) was related to those with a bachelor's degree. In terms of age, the highest frequency is related to the age group of 41-50 years, which included 30% of the participants. The mean score of coronaphobia among the participants was 97.75 in April and 83.25 in March. Most of the psychosocial variables studied, including housekeeping, trust in medical staff and history of underlying diseases showed a statistically significant relationship with coronaphobia (p<0.001). All variables in total were able to explain and predict 70% of the variance of coronaphobia.
Conclusion. This study showed that coronaphobia is significantly correlated to psychological and social variables that should be considered by all institutions and people.