فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Non-adherence to hygiene rules by the parents accompanying their hospitalized children increases the likelihood of their children contracting COVID-19 and may instill fear in them.Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the effect of COVID-19-induced fear on the hygiene behavior of parents with hospitalized children.Methods: This study was conducted based on a descriptive design between November 2021 and March 2022. The participants consisted of 233 parents accompanying their children in the pediatric department of a hospital. Data were collected by the face-to-face interview technique using the "Demographic Information Form", "COVID-19 Hygiene Scale", and "Fear of COVID-19 Scale". The data were analyzed in SPSS software. During the frequency analysis of continuous and categorical data, comparisons between variables and scales were tested for their conformity to normality distributions.Results: Based on the results, 96.6% of parents were female and 36.1% were university graduates. Parents' mean COVID-19-induced fear and hygiene behavior scores were obtained at 18.4 and 100.2, respectively. COVID-19-induced fear affected hygiene behavior (P<0.05).Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of this study, COVID-19-induced fear among parents with hospitalized children increased their hygiene behavior. Therefore, raising public health awareness of COVID-19 and providing outbreak preparedness training by hospital health professionals for parents with hospitalized children will be paramount for preventing infectious diseases.