Assessing the Self-efficacy and Risk Perception of COVID-19 Among Cancer Patients Admitted to a Hospital in Ardabil-Iran

Cancer patients have defects in their immune systems due to chemotherapy and corticosteroid therapy and are at risk of viral diseases.

This study aimed to evaluate the risk perception and self-efficacy related to COVID-19 among cancer patients in Ardabil, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 cancer patients hospitalized in the oncology department of Ardabil Imam Khomeini Hospital in the summer of 2020, who were selected by simple random sampling. After obtaining informed consent, data was gathered using a questionnaire based on the extended parallel process model (EPPM) consisting of seven subscales, including perceived sensitivity, perceived severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, intention, fear, and defensive motivation. The data were analyzed using linear regression by SPSS 18 and Stata 8.

Mean age of 200 cancer patients in this study was 52.35 ± 6.30 years. Among the constructs of EPPM, perceived susceptibility (coefficient = 0.23, P-value < 0.001) and perceived severity (coefficient = 0.160, P-value = 0.026) were significant predictors of self-efficacy, while response efficacy, intention, fear, and defensive motivation were not significant. In the regression model, R squared (R2 ) and adjusted R squared (adj-R2 ) were 0.182 and 0.180, respectively.

This study demonstrated that perceived susceptibility and severity had significant roles in predicting self-efficacy. Therefore, it is proposed that according to the conditions of the cancer patients, health providers in oncology wards should provide the necessary information to enhance the risk perception regarding COVID-19 and promote self-efficacy to observe health protocols.