The Fear of SARS-CoV-2 Infection versus the Perception of COVID-19 Vaccination amongst Older Adults in Urban Areas (CoV-VAC-PL Study): A Polish Community-Based Study

The COVID-19 pandemic not only adversely impacted physical health but also affected older adults' mental health. The first news on COVID-19 vaccination made a major breakthrough to the effect of improving older adults' mood, notwithstanding the fact that vaccinated individuals in this age group accounted only for 40.6% of the overall vaccination rollout in Poland. This study was aimed at assessing the level of anxiety regarding COVID-19 amongst older adults in Poland and assessing the attitude of older adults toward COVID-19 vaccination. The study sample encompassed a population of 800 individuals aged 60 years and older randomly picked up from a representative sample of all the residents in 16 voivodeship cities (50 individuals from each of the cities). The research method used in this study was a diagnostic survey, and its technique was based on an author-designed questionnaire and four standardised psychometric scales: the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), the Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (DrVac-COVID-19S), and the Scale to Measure the Perception of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines Acceptance (the VAC-COVID-19 Scale). The degree of fear of SARS-CoV-2 among seniors equalled 1.03 ± 1.95 in terms of the CAS and 15.61 ± 5.75 in terms of the FCV-19S. Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination have proven positive (DrVac-COVID-19S-61.23 ± 12.35; VAC-COVID-19-44.31 ± 7.20). Females scored higher than males to the extent of the scales under consideration. The older the respondents were, the higher the scale score. A group of individuals with higher educational status was characterized by substantially higher scores covering the Knowledge subscale ( < 0.001) and the Autonomy subscale ( = 0.038), as well as a higher total score in terms of the DrVac-COVID-19S ( < 0.001). A group of positive factors including the reasons for COVID-19 vaccination in terms of the VAC-COVID-19 Scale was the only case to prove statistically insignificant relationships between the population size of the city the respondents came from and the scale values under consideration ( = 0.790). Statistically significant relationships were proven between SARS-CoV-2 contraction and fear of COVID-19 as measured by means of the CAS ( < 0.001) as well as between SARS-CoV-2 contraction and the Values subscale ( = 0.017) and the Knowledge subscale ( < 0.001) within the framework of the DrVac-COVID-19S scale and the total score in terms of the DrVac-COVID-19S scale (