A cross-sectional study of protective health behaviors and stigmatization toward infectious diseases in a community

Protective health behaviors and stigmatization are both central to the control of infectious diseases, yet they have rarely been examined together in the general community. This study aimed to determine adults’ protective health behaviors toward emerging infectious diseases and their stigmatization toward infectious diseases, and to examine the relationship between these variables. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted between February and May 2026 with 384 adults attending four randomly selected Family Health Centers in a provincial center in eastern Türkiye; participants within the centers were recruited by convenience sampling. Data were collected with a Personal Information Form, the Protective Health Behaviors Scale for Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the Stigma against Infectious Diseases Scale, and were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Student’s or Welch’s t-tests, one-way or Welch ANOVA with Tukey or Games–Howell post-hoc tests, effect sizes, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression. The mean protective health behavior score was 112.13 ± 19.44 (possible range 30–150), and the mean stigma score was 72.88 ± 18.77 (possible range 23–115). Protective health behavior scores differed by sex, age group, and educational status and were lower among participants who currently had an infectious disease or had one in the family or close environment. Stigma scores were lower among employed participants, those with previous quarantine experience, and those with current or family/close-environment infectious disease (small effects) ( p < 0.05). Protective health behaviors showed a weak positive correlation with stigmatization ( r = 0.264, p < 0.001) and accounted for 7.0% of its variance. Protective health behaviors were positively correlated with the Fear and Dangerousness subscales, but not with the Avoidance subscale. Higher protective health behaviors were associated with slightly higher stigmatizing attitudes, particularly fear and perceived dangerousness. Because of the cross-sectional design, no causal inference can be made. Public health education programs that promote protective behaviors may benefit from also including content that addresses stigmatization toward people affected by infectious diseases.