Older men who aren’t worried about COVID-19 take fewer steps to prevent infection.
Older men worry less about catching or dying from COVID-19 than older women and younger people, according to a new study published in the Journals of Gerontology. That lower level of worry could put older men at greater risk for contracting the virus.
Researchers Sarah J. Barber and Hyunji Kim of Georgia State University administered an online questionnaire assessing COVID-19 perceptions, worries, and behavior changes from March 23–31, 2020. Participants included 146 younger adults aged 18-35, and 156 older adults aged 65-81.
Survey respondents indicated the extent to which they worried about the impact of COVID-19 and whether or not they had engaged in certain preventive health behaviors like washing their hands more frequently or wearing a face mask.
Researchers found that, during the early phase of the outbreak in the United States, older adults perceived the risks of COVID-19 to be higher than did younger adults. Despite these perceptions, however, older men were comparatively less worried about COVID-19 than their younger counterparts. Compared with other study participants, older men had also implemented the fewest behavior changes to prevent infection.
The researchers note that the case fatality rate for COVID-19 is higher among older adults and also higher among men than women.
“Because of this, it would be logical to assume that older adults, and particularly older men, would be more worried about, and taking more precautions against, COVID-19,” they write.
Prior research suggests that worry occurs less frequently for older adults than younger adults, and for older men than for older women, Barber and Kim point out. Typically, these age-related declines in worry are beneficial, they suggest. But these declines become problematic given the high COVID-19 case fatality rates among older men.
The study results suggest “a critical need for COVID-19 behavioral change interventions targeted at older men,” write the authors. “These results also highlight the importance of understanding emotional responses to COVID-19, and how these may vary across different demographic groups, as worry is related to behavioral responses.”