The relationship between health anxiety of COVID-19 and participation of the Iranian population during the pandemic

Introduction: Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to conduct research in various fields related to this issue, and participation as one of the main health factors according to World Health Organization, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between anxiety caused by COVID-19 and participation during the social distancing among Iranian population. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional-correlation study, 108 participants completed health anxiety and participation questionnaires. Data analyzed through Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Spearman ranking correlation test, and SPSS v24 software. Results: The findings showed that men showed more participation during the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing. Greater fear of getting infected by COVID-19 and general health concerns resulted in lower participation of individuals (r= 0.194, P< 0.05). The higher general health concern due to COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more restrictions on people's lives (r= 0.121, P< 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicated the role of gender in people's participation during social distancing and also the role of health anxiety due to the COVID-19 outbreak on participation and restrictions on people's participation. The relationship between participation and health constraints and anxiety can be used as an outline for guiding and designing smart distancing policies.