Social Avoidance and Workplace Discriminatory Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Recovered Patients in Iran: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective :

This study aims to investigate social avoidance and workplace discriminatory attitudes towards patients recovered from COVID-19 in the general population of Iran.

Methods:

 In this cross-sectional study, participants were 3836 people aged >15 years who were selected from the general population of Iran using a convenience sampling method in 2020. The data was collected using a researcher-made, self-report online questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine factors associated with social avoidance and workplace discriminatory attitudes.

Results:

 The results showed that 56.72% and 49.06% of participants had social avoidance and workplace discrimination attitudes, respectively. Social avoidance was significantly higher in the age group 45-64, urban people, people with high school diploma and university education, college/school students, employed people, and people who had a recovered person at home. Men had 37% less social avoidance compared to women. Workplace discriminatory attitudes were significantly higher in the age group 45- 64, single people, urban people, people with high economic status, and people who had a recovered person at home. Men and people with high school diplomas, and university degrees had lower discriminatory attitudes at the workplace towards COVID-19-recovered patientss.

Conclusion:

 More than half of the general population of Iran avoids contact with patients who recovered from COVID-19, and almost half of the people have workplace discriminatory attitudes towards them.