scholarly journals Exploring perspectives on COVID-19 risk, protective behavior and control measures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karwan M Amen ◽  
Kazhan I. Mahmood ◽  
Sherzad A. Shabu ◽  
Nazar Shabila
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Protective Behavior ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
The People ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Understanding the public perception and behavior towards the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can help in mitigating the transmission of the infection. This study aimed to assess the perspectives of the people towards COVID-19, especially concerning the risk of the disease, adherence to protective measures, and the effectiveness of the imposed prevention and control measures. Methods An explorative study based on Q-methodology was conducted in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The study involved a purposively selected sample of 40 persons representing different educational, social, and economic levels. Forty-one statements were extracted that have covered various aspects of the impact of COVID-19 on the life of people, and different perceptions and uncertainties around it. We asked the participants to rank-order the 41 statements into a distribution on a nine point scale, ranging from “least agree” to “most agree." Data analysis involved a by-person factor analysis using PQMethod 2.35, which aimed to identify the main viewpoints. Results The analysis revealed three distinct viewpoints and one consensus perspective for the people’s perspectives about COVID-19. Viewpoint 1, confidence and obedience to protective measures, centers on compliance with the main protective measures, the seriousness of COVID-19, and the effectiveness of the government's preventive measures. Viewpoint 2, apprehensiveness and noncompliance, focuses on extremely worry about the disease and concerns about the government measures against COVID-19. Viewpoint 3, people’s inattentiveness, emphasizes the lack of awareness and adherence to protective measures by the people and ineffectiveness of the government’s preventive measures. Conclusion The primary aspects distinguishing the three viewpoints focus on risk perception, protective behavioral response, and government’s preventive measures. Risk perception can guide appropriate protective behavior, but not always. For strengthening the preventive measures, and compliance with protective behaviors, different approaches that can address the needs of different groups of people are required. The focus should be on increasing the risk awareness, reducing anxiety, and explaining the justification and effectiveness of the government's preventive measures.

scholarly journals Knowledge and awareness about airborne pathogens and its prevention among the general public

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL3) ◽  
pp. 279-286
Author(s):  
Ashritha M ◽  
Geetha R V ◽  
Jayalakshmi Somasundaram
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
The People ◽  
Airborne Disease ◽  
Protection And Control ◽  
And Control ◽  
Respiratory Droplets

The airborne disease is mainly caused by the pathogens, which spread through respiratory droplets while coughing, sneezing or talking. Infection protection and control measures are taken to prevent the possible spread of , which also spreads through respiratory droplets. Discharged microbes are suspended in the air as dust particles and even in the form of droplets. The Middle East respiratory syndrome is caused by wherein the health workers are at a higher risk. Hence, awareness must be created in order to reduce a number of cases. The preventive measures are mainly taken in health care as patients are susceptible to diseases. It is essential for all the people to become aware and take steps according. The survey was distributed online to around 100 participants of various places of Tamil regarding the awareness of airborne pathogens. From this above study, it could be noticed that around 85% of the people are aware of the airborne pathogen whereas 15% of the people are not aware of. 64% of people have a good knowledge of the symptoms of any type of airborne disease. the protective measures that must be taken, about 65% of the people are conscious of doing it. The study concludes that there is awareness of airborne pathogens and its prevention among the general public.

scholarly journals Analysis of Effectiveness of Quarantine Measures in Controlling COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garima Kaushik ◽  
Shaney Mantri ◽  
Shrishti Kaushik ◽  
Dhananjay Kalbande ◽  
B. N. Chaudhari
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Deterministic Model ◽  
Reproduction Number ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Transmission Rates ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractCOVID-19 has created an interesting discourse among the people of the world particularly regarding preventive measures of infectious diseases. In this paper, the authors forecast the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak and study how the reduction of transmission rates influences its decline. The paper makes use of the SIR (Susceptible Infected Recovered) Model which is a deterministic model used in the field of epidemiology-based on differential equations derived from sections of the population. The Basic Reproduction Number (Ro) represents the criticality of the epidemic in numeric terms. Forecasting an epidemic provides insights about the geographic spreading of the disease and the case incidences required to better inform intervention strategists about situations that may occur during the outbreak. Through this research paper, the authors wish to provide an insight into the impact of control measures on the pandemic. By drawing a comparison of three countries and their quarantine measures, observations on the decline of the outbreak are made. Authors intend to guide the intervention strategies of under-resourced countries like India and aid in the overall containment of the outbreak.

scholarly journals Behavioral Reactions and Psychological Responses to 2019-nCoV: A Narrative Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Ranaei ◽  
Zahra Pilevar ◽  
Teamur Aghamolaei
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
The Impact

Context: The emerging 2019-nCoV outbreak has involved almost all countries worldwide. Although the timely dissemination of clear and accurate information on threats of the disease might cause panic, it is needed for rapid adoption and implementation of prevention and control measures. From the early stages of outbreaks, the behavioral responses and public risk perception should be carefully monitored for further policies and corrective measures. Evidence Acquisition: In the current narrative review article, the psychological and behavioral responses are reviewed after an introduction to the risk perception and role of social and personal behavioral changes in the 2019-nCoV outbreak. Additionally, the impact of public perception on mental health problems and containment of the outbreak is discussed. Results: The consequences of the outbreak affect both infected and non-infected people in communities. People may experience loneliness, fear of catching the disease, and loss of loved ones during the outbreak. The timely understanding of the situation, implementation of urgent psychological interventions, and emotional supports are necessary to encourage people to fight this long-term outbreak and prevent subsequent mental health problems. Conclusions: High self-control and public perception can mediate the associated psychological impacts of stressful conditions in outbreaks.

Research Participation Experiences of Informants of Suicide and Control Cases

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 238-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. C. Wong ◽  
Wincy S. C. Chan ◽  
Philip S. L. Beh ◽  
Fiona W. S. Yau ◽  
Paul S. F. Yip ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Initial Contact ◽  
Psychological Autopsy ◽  
Autopsy Study ◽  
The People ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the initial contact by the research team. (2) To explore the reactions, reasons for participation, and comments of both the informants of suicide and control cases to psychological autopsy interviews. (3) To investigate the impact of the interviews on informants of suicide cases about a month after the interviews. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was used for the informants of both suicide and control cases. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted with the informants of suicide cases. Results: The majority of the informants of suicide cases, regardless of the initial route of contact, as well as the control cases were positive about being approached to take part in the study. A minority of informants of suicide and control cases found the experience of talking about their family member to be more upsetting than expected. The telephone follow-up interviews showed that none of the informants of suicide cases reported being distressed by the psychological autopsy interviews. Limitations: The acceptance rate for our original psychological autopsy study was modest. Conclusions: The findings of this study are useful for future participants and researchers in measuring the potential benefits and risks of participating in similar sensitive research. Psychological autopsy interviews may be utilized as an active engagement approach to reach out to the people bereaved by suicide, especially in places where the postvention work is underdeveloped.

scholarly journals Tourism Impacts, Tourism-Phobia and Gentrification in Historic Centers: The Cases of Málaga (Spain) and Gdansk (Poland)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
Fernando Almeida-García ◽  
Rafael Cortés-Macías ◽  
Krzysztof Parzych
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Tourism Impacts ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
Tourist Flows ◽  
Tourist Accommodation ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Urban Characteristics

This study analyzes the role of residents in urban tourist destinations affected by the increase in tourist flows, which have generated various problems such as tourism, gentrification and the emergence of tourism as a threat to residents. The role of residents in tourist destinations has not been analyzed regularly during the development process of destinations. We study two cases of historic centers in European cities, with the aim of comparing tourism problems, which are common to most European urban destinations. This study was conducted by administering surveys amongst residents of these historic centers (378 in Málaga, Spain, and 380 in Gdansk, Poland). These cities show a similar demographic size and urban characteristics. This is the first comparative research on tourism-phobia and gentrification in destinations, a field of analysis that is still not studied much. We develop specific scales to measure gentrification and tourism-phobia; moreover, we study the impact of some tourist problems that affect residents (noise, dirt, occupation of public spaces, etc.), and we show the spatial distribution of tourism-phobia. The same analysis instruments are used for both cities. The results of this study show that the tourism-phobia situation is different in the analyzed destinations. It is more intense in the case of Málaga than in Gdansk. The two historic centers are especially affected by the processes of increased tourist flows and the growth of new forms of tourist accommodation. The research results show that the residents’ annoyance caused by tourism gentrification is more intense than tourism-phobia. Both case studies highlight the residents’ complaints regarding the inadequate management of problems by public stakeholders and control measures.

scholarly journals Acceptability of COVID-19 Vaccines and Protective Behavior among Adults in Taiwan: Associations between Risk Perception and Willingness to Vaccinate against COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 5579
Author(s):  
Feng-Jen Tsai ◽  
Hsiu-Wen Yang ◽  
Chia-Ping Lin ◽  
Jeffrey Zen Liu
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
College Level ◽  
Protective Behavior ◽  
Protective Behaviors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Vaccine Acceptance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
To Receive

This study aims to evaluate acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines and the impact of risk perception on vaccine acceptance and personal health protective behaviors in Taiwan. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from 19 to 30 October 2020; 1020 participants were included in the final analysis; chi-square and logistic regression analyses were conducted. In total, 52.7% of participants were willing to receive COVID-19 vaccines, 63.5% perceived the severity of COVID-19 in Taiwan as “not serious”, and nearly 40% were worried about COVID-19 infection. Participants with higher perceived severity of COVID-19 had significantly higher odds of refusing the vaccine (OR = 1.546), while those worried about infection had lower odds of poor health protective behaviors (OR = 0.685). Vaccine refusal reasons included “the EUA process is not strict enough” (48.7%) and “side effects” (30.3%). Those who had previously refused other vaccinations were 2.44 times more likely to refuse the COVID-19 vaccines. Participants’ age had an influence on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. In general, the Taiwanese public’s acceptance of the vaccine was lower than that in other high-income countries. Elderly participants and those with college-level education and above who had previously refused vaccines had lower willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Risk perception was positively associated with personal health protective behaviors but negatively associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

scholarly journals Risk Perception of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Implementation of Various Protective Measures by Dentists Across Various Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 5848
Author(s):  
Anand Marya ◽  
Mohmed Isaqali Karobari ◽  
Siddharthan Selvaraj ◽  
Abdul Habeeb Adil ◽  
Ali A. Assiry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Clinical Implementation ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Modes Of Transmission ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
General Dentists ◽  
Uv Lamps

Objective: Healthcare workers in general are at a high risk of potential infections with COVID-19, especially those who work with aerosol generating procedures. Dentists fall in this category, as not only do they operate with aerosol generating procedures but also operate within a face-to-face contact area. Methods: A structured self-administered questionnaire was developed at Najran University and provided to the participants for data collection. The data collected included information on risk perception and incorporation of measures for protection against COVID-19 to gauge the attitude of dentists during this period. Also, clinical implementation of various protective measures was reviewed. Results: Of the n = 322 dentists that answered the questions, 50% were general dentists and 28.9% were dentists working at specialist clinics, while the remaining 21.1% of dentists were employed in academic institutions. Among the newer additions to the clinic, 36.3% of dentists answered that they had added atomizers to their practices, followed by 26.4% of dentists that had incorporated the use of UV lamps for sterilization. We found that 18.9% dentists were using HEPA filters in their clinics, while 9.9% of dentists were making use of fumigation devices to control the risk of infection. One-way ANOVA was also carried out to demonstrate that there was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.049) between groups of dentists utilizing HEPA filters, UV lamps, atomizers, and fumigation devices to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV2 across their workplaces. Conclusion: Dentists are aware of recently updated knowledge about the modes of transmission of COVID-19 and the recommended infection control measures in dental settings. A better understanding of the situation and methods to prevent it will ensure that the dental community is able to provide healthcare services to patients during the pandemic.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Pedestrian Flow Patterns in Urban POIs—An Example from Beijing

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 479
Author(s):  
Yihang Li ◽  
Liyan Xu
Keyword(s):  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Control Period ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Pedestrian Flow ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Government Control ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge for society as a whole, and analyzing the impact of the spread of the epidemic and government control measures on the travel patterns of urban residents can provide powerful help for city managers to designate top-level epidemic prevention policies and specific epidemic prevention measures. This study investigates whether it is more appropriate to use groups of POIs with similar pedestrian flow patterns as the unit of study rather than functional categories of POIs. In this study, we analyzed the hour-by-hour pedestrian flow data of key locations in Beijing before, during, and after the strict epidemic prevention and control period, and we found that the pedestrian flow patterns differed greatly in different periods by using a composite clustering index; we interpreted the clustering results from two perspectives: groups of pedestrian flow patterns and functional categories. The results show that depending on the specific stage of epidemic prevention and control, the number of unique pedestrian flow patterns decreased from four before the epidemic to two during the strict control stage and then increased to six during the initial resumption of work. The restrictions on movement are correlated with most of the visitations, and the release of restrictions led to an increase in the variety of unique pedestrian flow patterns compared to that in the pre-restriction period, even though the overall number of visitations decreased, indicating that social restrictions led to differences in the flow patterns of POIs and increased social distance.

scholarly journals The Evolution Model of Public Risk Perception Based on Pandemic Spreading Theory under Perspective of COVID-19

Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yi-Cheng Zhang ◽  
Zhi Li ◽  
Guo-Bing Zhou ◽  
Nai-Ru Xu ◽  
Jia-Bao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Public Risk ◽  
And Control

After the occurrence of public health emergencies, due to the uncertainty of the evolution of events and the asymmetry of pandemic information, the public’s risk perception will fluctuate dramatically. Excessive risk perception often causes the public to overreact to emergencies, resulting in irrational behaviors, which have a negative impact on economic development and social order. However, low-risk perception will reduce individual awareness of prevention and control, which is not conducive to the implementation of government pandemic prevention and control measures. Therefore, it is of great significance to accurately evaluate public risk perception for improving government risk management. This paper took the evolution of public risk perception based on the COVID-19 region as the research object. First, we analyze the characteristics of infectious diseases in the evolution of public risk perception of public health emergencies. Second, we analyze the characteristics of risk perception transmission in social networks. Third, we establish the dynamic model of public risk perception evolution based on SEIR, and the evolution mechanism of the public risk perception network is revealed through simulation experiments. Finally, we provide policy suggestions for government departments to deal with public health emergencies based on the conclusions of this study.

scholarly journals Collaboration: the key to investigations of emerging and re-emerging diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Hatch ◽  
Imam Z. Imam
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Work ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
Outbreak Investigations ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Countries need teams of well trained epidemiologists with extensive field experience to work with clinicians and laboratory scientists to conduct prompt and effective outbreak investigations of epidemics. To identify these outbreaks of possible emerging or re-emerging problems, existing surveillance must be strengthened and the quality of data validated routinely. In addition, ministry of health officials and international agencies need an open, collaborative, scientific work environment. The best environment to design effective interventions and control measures to limit the impact of these newly identified problems on the public’s health is one of cooperation and collaboration

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