GENDER VARIATIONS IN ELF-PRESERVING BEHAVIOR DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AMONG THE STUDENTS IN SARATOV

Abstract

Introduction: The role of human behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic is of paramount importance to control the epidemic. However, this issue has been little studied in Russia, particularly among the students. Aim: To study gender aspects of the attitude of students to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as their self-preserving behavior patterns. Methods: A pilot questionnaire survey in a simple random sample of 216 students aged 17-25 years (36.1 % men) living in Saratov was performed in November 2020. was Categorical variabes were compared using Pearson's cho-squared test. All statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS 17.0 software. Results: The value of health was greater among the women than among the men. Women were more likely to report adhering to preventive measures. The proportion of women regularly using antiseptics was 57.4 % vs. 42.1% in men. The proportion of those who were not cautious about their behavior during the pandemic was 10.3 % among the men compared to only 2.2 % among the women. As many as 16.7 % of the men and 8.7 % of the women (p = 0.08) were so-called COVID-19 skeptics, who considered the risks to be exaggerated and denied the pandemic reporting that it was a phenomenon propagated by the media. Statisitically significant gender differences were observed for fears regarding potential shortage of medicines and personal protective equipment (p = 0.01), as well as in the proportion of those who were not afraid of anything (p = 0,01). Significant gender differences were also observed for the regular use of antiseptics, reflecting the readiness to take anti-epidemic measures (p = 0.01). Concluzion: Models of self-preserving behavior of students during the COVID-19 pandemic and gender differences in social fears as well aspeculiarities of the subjective attitude towards anti-epidemic measures should be taken into account when developing measures to protect the population during the pandemic.