IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v19y2022i4d10.1007_s10433-021-00636-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Time patterns of precautionary health behaviours during an easing phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Anikó Bíró

    (Centre for Economic and Regional Studies)

  • Réka Branyiczki

    (Central European University and TÁRKI)

  • Péter Elek

    (Centre for Economic and Regional Studies and Corvinus University of Budapest)

Abstract

Using data from the COVID-19 questionnaire of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we investigate the time patterns of precautionary health behaviours of individuals aged 50 years and above during the summer of 2020, an easing phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. We also examine how these health behaviours differ by the presence of chronic conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol level, heart disease, diabetes or chronic bronchitis, which can be considered as risk factors for COVID-19. Our results suggest that while on average, people became less precautious during the analysed time period, this is less so for those who are at higher risk. We also document large regional differences in precautionary health behaviours and show that higher-risk individuals are on average more cautious in all regions. We conclude that people adjusted their health behaviours in line with the generally understood risk of the COVID-19 disease. At the same time, our results also point out divergences in the level of willingness to take different precautionary steps.

Suggested Citation

  • Anikó Bíró & Réka Branyiczki & Péter Elek, 2022. "Time patterns of precautionary health behaviours during an easing phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 837-848, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00636-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-021-00636-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-021-00636-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-021-00636-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    2. François Salanié & Nicolas Treich, 2020. "Public and private incentives for self-protection," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 45(2), pages 104-113, September.
    3. Joann M. Montepare, 2020. "Publisher Correction to: An exploration of subjective age, actual age, age awareness, and engagement in everyday," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 489-497, December.
    4. Joann M. Montepare, 2020. "An exploration of subjective age, actual age, age awareness, and engagement in everyday behaviors," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 299-307, September.
    5. Verena Klusmann & Anna E. Kornadt, 2020. "Current directions in views on ageing," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 383-386, December.
    6. Anna E. Kornadt & Eva-Marie Kessler & Susanne Wurm & Catherine E. Bowen & Martina Gabrian & Verena Klusmann, 2020. "Views on ageing: a lifespan perspective," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 387-401, December.
    7. Megan O’Driscoll & Gabriel Ribeiro Dos Santos & Lin Wang & Derek A. T. Cummings & Andrew S. Azman & Juliette Paireau & Arnaud Fontanet & Simon Cauchemez & Henrik Salje, 2021. "Age-specific mortality and immunity patterns of SARS-CoV-2," Nature, Nature, vol. 590(7844), pages 140-145, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thorsten Kneip & Axel Börsch-Supan & Karen Andersen-Ranberg, 2022. "Social, health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from a European perspective," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 789-792, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Judit Temesvary & Andrew Wei, 2021. "Domestic Lending and the Pandemic: How Does Banks' Exposure to Covid-19 Abroad Affect Their Lending in the United States?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-056r1, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 17 Nov 2021.
    2. Jacqueline Ruth & Steffen Willwacher & Oliver Korn, 2022. "Acceptance of Digital Sports: A Study Showing the Rising Acceptance of Digital Health Activities Due to the SARS-CoV-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Hannah Carver & Tracey Price & Danilo Falzon & Peter McCulloch & Tessa Parkes, 2022. "Stress and Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Frontline Homelessness Services Staff Experiences in Scotland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Phurichai Rungcharoenkitkul, 2021. "Macroeconomic effects of COVID‐19: A mid‐term review," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 439-458, October.
    5. Carlos Díaz & Sebastian Fossati & Nicolás Trajtenberg, 2022. "Stay at home if you can: COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home guidelines and local crime," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1113, December.
    6. Joël Cariolle & Florian Léon, 2022. "How internet helped firms to cope with COVID-19," Working Papers hal-03592617, HAL.
    7. Xiao Chen & Hanwei Huang & Jiandong Ju & Ruoyan Sun & Jialiang Zhang, 2022. "Endogenous cross-region human mobility and pandemics," CEP Discussion Papers dp1860, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Alejandro G. Graziano & Yuan Tian, 2023. "Trade disruptions along the global supply chain," Discussion Papers 2023-06, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    9. Khan, Nawab Ali & Azhar, Mohd & Rahman, Mohd Nayyer & Akhtar, Mohd Junaid, 2022. "Scale development and validation for usage of social networking sites during COVID-19," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Zhiyuan Chen & Joseph L.-H. Tsui & Jun Cai & Shuo Su & Cécile Viboud & Louis Plessis & Philippe Lemey & Moritz U. G. Kraemer & Hongjie Yu, 2025. "Disruption of seasonal influenza circulation and evolution during the 2009 H1N1 and COVID-19 pandemics in Southeastern Asia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Yekaterina Chzhen & Jennifer Symonds & Dympna Devine & Júlia Mikolai & Susan Harkness & Seaneen Sloan & Gabriela Martinez Sainz, 2022. "Learning in a Pandemic: Primary School children’s Emotional Engagement with Remote Schooling during the spring 2020 Covid-19 Lockdown in Ireland," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(4), pages 1517-1538, August.
    12. Mirko Licchetta & Giovanni Mattozzi & Rafal Raciborski & Rupert Willis, 2022. "Economic Adjustment in the Euro Area and the United States during the COVID-19 Crisis," European Economy - Discussion Papers 160, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    13. Lucia Freira & Marco Sartorio & Cynthia Boruchowicz & Florencia Lopez Boo & Joaquin Navajas, 2021. "The interplay between partisanship, forecasted COVID-19 deaths, and support for preventive policies," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Galil, Koresh & Varon, Eva, 2024. "National culture and banks stock volatility," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Das, Saikat & Bose, Indranil & Sarkar, Uttam Kumar, 2023. "Predicting the outbreak of epidemics using a network-based approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(2), pages 819-831.
    16. Clemens, Jeffrey & Hoxie, Philip & Kearns, John & Veuger, Stan, 2023. "How did federal aid to states and localities affect testing and vaccine delivery?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    17. Hammond, James & Siegal, Kim & Milner, Daniel & Elimu, Emmanuel & Vail, Taylor & Cathala, Paul & Gatera, Arsene & Karim, Azfar & Lee, Ja-Eun & Douxchamps, Sabine & Tu, Mai Thanh & Ouma, Emily & Lukuyu, 2022. "Perceived effects of COVID-19 restrictions on smallholder farmers: Evidence from seven lower- and middle-income countries," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    18. Beckles, Jamila & Jackman, Mahalia, 2024. "Financial worry and government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in 88 Countries: Did public confidence in National Governments matter?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    19. Hausmann, Ricardo & Schetter, Ulrich, 2022. "Horrible trade-offs in a pandemic: Poverty, fiscal space, policy, and welfare," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    20. Winfree, Paul, 2023. "The long-run effects of temporarily closing schools: Evidence from Virginia, 1870s-1910s," QUCEH Working Paper Series 23-02, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00636-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.