Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland

The response to the pandemic requires access to accurate information and public understanding and adherence to preventive measures. This online cross-sectional study of adult Poles (<i>n</i> = 1337) assessed the frequency of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, fears related to the COVID-19 pa...

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Autores principales:	Bartosz M. Nowak, Cezary Miedziarek, Szymon Pełczyński, Piotr Rzymski
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	infodemic pandemic social media fear preventive measures COVID-19 Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e21e80fa0f184ebea4198d9c3a525355
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e21e80fa0f184ebea4198d9c3a5253552021-11-25T17:52:36ZMisinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland10.3390/ijerph1822122661660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/e21e80fa0f184ebea4198d9c3a5253552021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/12266https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601The response to the pandemic requires access to accurate information and public understanding and adherence to preventive measures. This online cross-sectional study of adult Poles (<i>n</i> = 1337) assessed the frequency of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, fears related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and beliefs in COVID-19-related conspiracy theories during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic when the nationwide lockdown was imposed (April 2020). As shown, 22% of surveyed admitted not to wash their hands frequently, while 12% did not use disinfectants. These two behaviors were also less frequent in individuals with medical education. The highest levels of pandemic-related fears were associated with health loss in relatives, pandemic-induced economic crisis, and government using a pandemic to control citizens by the state. A significant share of surveyed individuals believed that the pandemic was intentional action to weaken non-Chinese economies (32%) or was deliberately induced for profits from selling vaccines (27%). Men, individuals with no children, and subjects with lower education were significantly less likely to adhere to sanitary measures (handwashing, disinfection, avoiding face touching, changes in greeting etiquette, face-covering when coughing or sneezing), and were less concerned over self and relatives’ health. At the same time, men were less prone than women to the conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that adherence to sanitary measures during the pandemic can be a challenge also in developed countries, while misinformation campaigns (also concerning vaccines) have already affected the general public during the early phase of the epidemiological outbreak. The study provides observations that may be useful in the management of the public response to future epidemics.Bartosz M. NowakCezary MiedziarekSzymon PełczyńskiPiotr RzymskiMDPI AGarticleinfodemicpandemicsocial mediafearpreventive measuresCOVID-19MedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 12266, p 12266 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	infodemic pandemic social media fear preventive measures COVID-19 Medicine R
spellingShingle	infodemic pandemic social media fear preventive measures COVID-19 Medicine R Bartosz M. Nowak Cezary Miedziarek Szymon Pełczyński Piotr Rzymski Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland
description	The response to the pandemic requires access to accurate information and public understanding and adherence to preventive measures. This online cross-sectional study of adult Poles (<i>n</i> = 1337) assessed the frequency of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, fears related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and beliefs in COVID-19-related conspiracy theories during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic when the nationwide lockdown was imposed (April 2020). As shown, 22% of surveyed admitted not to wash their hands frequently, while 12% did not use disinfectants. These two behaviors were also less frequent in individuals with medical education. The highest levels of pandemic-related fears were associated with health loss in relatives, pandemic-induced economic crisis, and government using a pandemic to control citizens by the state. A significant share of surveyed individuals believed that the pandemic was intentional action to weaken non-Chinese economies (32%) or was deliberately induced for profits from selling vaccines (27%). Men, individuals with no children, and subjects with lower education were significantly less likely to adhere to sanitary measures (handwashing, disinfection, avoiding face touching, changes in greeting etiquette, face-covering when coughing or sneezing), and were less concerned over self and relatives’ health. At the same time, men were less prone than women to the conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that adherence to sanitary measures during the pandemic can be a challenge also in developed countries, while misinformation campaigns (also concerning vaccines) have already affected the general public during the early phase of the epidemiological outbreak. The study provides observations that may be useful in the management of the public response to future epidemics.
format	article
author	Bartosz M. Nowak Cezary Miedziarek Szymon Pełczyński Piotr Rzymski
author_facet	Bartosz M. Nowak Cezary Miedziarek Szymon Pełczyński Piotr Rzymski
author_sort	Bartosz M. Nowak
title	Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland
title_short	Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland
title_full	Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland
title_fullStr	Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland
title_full_unstemmed	Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland
title_sort	misinformation, fears and adherence to preventive measures during the early phase of covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in poland
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e21e80fa0f184ebea4198d9c3a525355
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Misinformation, Fears and Adherence to Preventive Measures during the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in Poland

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