The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and adherence to personal protective measures in a sample of Iranian healthcare providers: a cross-sectional study

Background Studies have been conducted worldwide to investigate the level of adherence to personal protective measures or fear of COVID-19 among healthcare providers. However, few studies have examined the relationship between adherence to personal protective measures and fear of COVID-19. There is also a need for more information on this topic from Iran. This study investigated the relationship between adherence to personal protective measures against COVID-19 and fear of COVID-19 in the healthcare providers at Pastor Hospital of Bam, Iran, in 2022. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in August and September 2022 with 199 healthcare providers of Pastor Hospital of Bam, Iran. The study included medical, nursing, and paramedical staff at Pastor Hospital at the time of the study. Incomplete responses and failure to return the questionnaire to the researcher were exclusion criteria. The fear of COVID-19 scale and a checklist of personal protective measures were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Results Of the 199 participants, 67.3% were female, and their mean age was 31 +/- 4.55 years. The mean score for adherence to personal protective measures was 14.46 +/- 3.39 (out of 23), and the mean score for fear of COVID-19 was 17.04 +/- 4.58 (out of 35). Adherence to personal protective measures was higher among females than males (14.96 +/- 2.99 vs. 13.43 +/- 3.92, p = 0.003), in individuals who had attended infection control courses than in those who had not (15.57 +/- 2.88 vs. 13.30 +/- 3.50, p < 0.001), and in those working in intensive care units than those in other wards (p = 0.009). A positive correlation was found between fear of COVID-19 and adherence to personal protective measures (r = 0.16, p = 0.03). Conclusions Healthcare providers demonstrated average levels of adherence to the personal protective measures and fear of COVID-19. Fear scores were also positively correlated with adherence scores. Specific workshops are necessary to familiarize all healthcare workers with personal protective measures against COVID-19 and universal precautions.