Chronic illness and COVID‐19‐related risk and protective behaviors

Abstract

People with chronic illnesses are at increased risk of contracting COVID‐19. Still, little is known about whether such an increased risk relates to COVID‐19‐related protective behaviors among those with chronic illness. This study compares the self‐reported COVID‐19 risky and protective behaviors—specifically physically distancing, handwashing, and having houseguests—of people (N = 936) (1) living with chronic illnesses or (2) cohabiting with someone with chronic illness to those who fall in neither category at the beginning of the COVID‐19 pandemic (April 2020). Study results were mixed: people with a chronic illness were more likely to have had houseguests in the past 5 days and less likely to have increased their handwashing in response to the pandemic, but were also more likely to physical distance when outside the home. Those cohabiting with someone with a chronic illness were more likely to have had houseguests, but did not differ in other outcomes.