en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="line-height:normal"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">Objective:</span></span></span></b><b> </b><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Diabetic patients are more likely to be infected and are at the higher risk of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to compare the preventive behaviours and perceived risk of COVID-19 in women with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="line-height:normal"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">Materials and Methods</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">:</span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2020 on 151 participants. Among T2DM patients who were referred to Yazd diabetes center 79 patients were selected by using simple random sampling method. The healthy none diabetic participants (n=72) were selected from the patients&#39; relatives. Data were collected by a validated questionnaire including demographic information, information about diabetes, information about protective behaviours and risk perception questions. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.<b><i></i></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="line-height:normal"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Results:</span></span></b> <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The mean (&plusmn;SD) score of protective behaviours in the diabetic group was 24.34 (&plusmn;3.05), which was significantly higher than the non-diabetic group (<i>P</i>: 0.001). The mean risk perception in the group of diabetic patients was slightly more than the group without diabetes but this difference was not statistically significant (<i>P</i>= 0.16). In general, there was a significant positive correlation between protective behaviours and risk perception in diabetic (</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">r= 0.26; <i>P</i>< 0.01) and non-diabetic (r= 0.39; <i>P</i>< 0.001) groups</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="line-height:normal"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">Conclusion</span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">:</span></span></span></b> <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.5pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Increased perceived risk promotes preventive behaviours of COVID-19 among diabetic and non-diabetic people.</span></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Behaviours, Covid-19, Diabetes, Risk perception, Women 145 151 http://ijdo.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-30-352&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Akram Mehrabbeik 0000-0002-7088-3545 No Ph.D in Health Education And Promotion, Diabetes Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Maryam Askari 0000-0002-8422-8293 No MSc of Epidemiology, Genetic and Environmental Adventures Research Center, School of Abarkouh Paramedicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Nasim Namiranian 0000-0002-5133-6204 Yes MD, Assistant professor of Community & Preventive Medicine, Diabetes Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.