Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en Non-Adherence to Preventive Behaviors and the Risk of COVID-19: A Comparative Study Preventive Medicine & Community Health Preventive Medicine & Community Health Original Research Original Research Background: Transmission routes of COVID-19 have been well identified and documented. Considering the high prevalence of the Covid-19 and its impacts on the population, this study aimed to assess the status of preventive behaviors against coronavirus infection and estimate the odds of its transmission routes among people.    Methods: A comparative study was conducted from March to April 2021. A total of 1256 participants were randomly selected, including 262 COVID-19 patients and 994 healthy people from 10 counties in Khuzestan, southwest Iran. A two-part questionnaire was used for data collection that included items on demographic and adherence to preventive behaviors. Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical software SPSS 18.0.0 applying logistic regression.    Results: The mean age of participants was 37.60±11.48 years (female: 36.49±11.15 years; male: 38.86±11.74 years). The results showed that having contact with infected patient at home (OR = 4.90, 95%CI = 3.32-7.25), going to the hospital for not-necessary medical reasons (OR = 4.47, 95%CI = 3.05-6.55), leaving home for essential daily services (OR = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.63-3.81), and going to doctors' office (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.20-2.63) could increase the odds of infection.    Conclusion: The findings suggest that different factors are responsible for the increased spread of the Covid-19. Indeed, since the intervention for every single factor will have a small contribution to reducing the prevalence of the disease, it seems essential to design comprehensive interventions while emphasizing isolation and contacts tracing. The study provides evidence for multi-level and multi-faceted policy and interventions for promoting adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. COVID-19, Adherence, Behavior, Prevention, Iran 475 480 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1012-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Farhad Abolnezhadian A abolnezhadian-f@ajums.ac.ir 200319475328460070828 200319475328460070828 Yes Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Pediatrics, Abuzar Children’s Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Neemat Jaafarzadeh jaafarzadeh-n@ajums.ac.ir 200319475328460070829 200319475328460070829 No Environmental Technologies Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Elham Maraghi e.maraghi@gmail.com 200319475328460070830 200319475328460070830 No Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Morteza Abdullatif khafaie khafaie-m@ajums.ac.ir 200319475328460070831 200319475328460070831 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University Of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Ali Montazeri montazeri@acer.ac.ir 200319475328460070832 200319475328460070832 No Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran Mahmood Karimy karimymahmood@yahoo.com 200319475328460070833 200319475328460070833 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Saveh University of Medical Sciences, Saveh, Iran Marzieh Araban arabanm@ajums.ac.ir 200319475328460070834 200319475328460070834 No Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of public health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran