COVID-19 preventive behaviours among population 50+ in Poland

In order to reduce the spread of the SARS-COVID pandemic a set of measures was recommended to reduce the spread of disease and protect individual health. In this article we analyse what factors are associated with utilisation of preventive measures: washing hands, using disinfectant and covering cough among the population of men and women aged 50+. Using Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement data we estimate logistic regression models for the increased utilisation of each of the preventive behaviours on demographic, socio-economic and psychological characteristics. The results indicate that the likelihood of taking health precautions depends on age, education, level of conscientiousness, and staying isolated. For men it also matters whether they live with a partner. We discuss what the findings mean for managing preventive behaviours.