The Intention of Changing Adherence to COVID-19 Preventive Health Measures After Implementation of COVID-19 Vaccination Program: An Online-Based Study in Mazandaran Province, Iran

The nature and extent of changing adherence to COVID-19 preventive health measures are different in various populations.

The aim of this study was to investigate the intention of changing adherence to COVID-19 preventive health measures (ICA-COVID-19–PHM) after implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program compared to when they had not received the vaccine.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1000 participants in the 18 to 60-year-old group population (Mazandaran Province, Iran). The data were collected by an anonymous online “Google Form” questionnaire. The Pearson correlation coefficient, intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), and paired t-test were used to evaluate the intention of changing adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures.

The correlation coefficient ranged from 0.58 for non-travel to 0.76 for personal hygiene. ICC ranged from 0.68 for non-traveling to 0.86 for personal hygiene and hand/face washing. The results of the paired t-test showed that there was a significant difference between the adherence at the present time and the intention to adhere to preventive protocols after receiving the vaccine.

The intention of changing adherence to preventive health measures, such as avoiding travel and crowded places and mask-wearing, had the most reduction.