Italian Adults’ Likelihood of Getting COVID-19 Vaccine: A Second Online Survey

Rapid online surveys are an important tool for tracking the public’s knowledge and perceptions during infectious disease outbreaks. In June 2020, during the early phases of COVID-19 vaccines development, we conducted a survey in 885 Italian adults that aimed at assessing their attitudes and opinions about vaccination, in addition to their vaccine literacy levels (i.e., skills in finding, understanding, and using information about vaccines). In January 2021, the same questionnaire was administered to a similar population (n = 160). Interactive vaccine literacy was significantly higher in January 2021 than in June 2020 (mean score 3.38 vs. 3.27 respectively, p = 0.0021). The percentage of participants willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 assessed by either-or questions, was equally high in both surveys (>90%), which is quite reassuring, although metrics based on categorical scales cannot identify hesitant subjects.

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Italian Adults’ Likelihood of Getting COVID-19 Vaccine: A Second Online Survey

10.20944/preprints202102.0353.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luigi Roberto Biasio ◽

Guglielmo Bonaccorsi ◽

Chiara Lorini ◽

Daniela Mazzini ◽

Sergio Pecorelli

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Online Survey ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Online Surveys ◽

The Public ◽

Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽

Early Phases

Rapid online surveys are an important tool in tracking the public’s knowledge and perceptions during infectious disease outbreaks. In June 2020, during the early phases of COVID-19 vaccines development, a survey had been conducted, aimed at assessing attitudes and opinions about vaccination of 885 Italian adults, in addition to their vaccine literacy levels (i.e. skills of finding, understanding and using information about vaccines). In January 2021, the same questionnaire has been administered to a similar population (n=160). Interactive vaccine literacy was significantly higher than in June 2020 (mean score 3.38 vs 3.27 respectively, P=.0021). The percentage of participants willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was assessed by the means of either-or questions, and was equally high in both surveys (>90%), which is quite reassuring, despite metrics based on categorical scales cannot identify hesitant subjects.

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Use of Rapid Online Surveys to Assess People's Perceptions During Infectious Disease Outbreaks: A Cross-sectional Survey on COVID-19 (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.18790 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Pascal Geldsetzer

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

United States ◽

United Kingdom ◽

Household Income ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

The United States ◽

Online Surveys ◽

Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Total Household Income

BACKGROUND Given the extensive time needed to conduct a nationally representative household survey and the commonly low response rate of phone surveys, rapid online surveys may be a promising method to assess and track knowledge and perceptions among the general public during fast-moving infectious disease outbreaks. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to apply rapid online surveying to determine knowledge and perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the general public in the United States and the United Kingdom. METHODS An online questionnaire was administered to 3000 adults residing in the United States and 3000 adults residing in the United Kingdom who had registered with Prolific Academic to participate in online research. Prolific Academic established strata by age (18-27, 28-37, 38-47, 48-57, or ≥58 years), sex (male or female), and ethnicity (white, black or African American, Asian or Asian Indian, mixed, or “other”), as well as all permutations of these strata. The number of participants who could enroll in each of these strata was calculated to reflect the distribution in the US and UK general population. Enrollment into the survey within each stratum was on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants completed the questionnaire between February 23 and March 2, 2020. RESULTS A total of 2986 and 2988 adults residing in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, completed the questionnaire. Of those, 64.4% (1924/2986) of US participants and 51.5% (1540/2988) of UK participants had a tertiary education degree, 67.5% (2015/2986) of US participants had a total household income between US $20,000 and US $99,999, and 74.4% (2223/2988) of UK participants had a total household income between £15,000 and £74,999. US and UK participants’ median estimate for the probability of a fatal disease course among those infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was 5.0% (IQR 2.0%-15.0%) and 3.0% (IQR 2.0%-10.0%), respectively. Participants generally had good knowledge of the main mode of disease transmission and common symptoms of COVID-19. However, a substantial proportion of participants had misconceptions about how to prevent an infection and the recommended care-seeking behavior. For instance, 37.8% (95% CI 36.1%-39.6%) of US participants and 29.7% (95% CI 28.1%-31.4%) of UK participants thought that wearing a common surgical mask was “highly effective” in protecting them from acquiring COVID-19, and 25.6% (95% CI 24.1%-27.2%) of US participants and 29.6% (95% CI 28.0%-31.3%) of UK participants thought it was prudent to refrain from eating at Chinese restaurants. Around half (53.8%, 95% CI 52.1%-55.6%) of US participants and 39.1% (95% CI 37.4%-40.9%) of UK participants thought that children were at an especially high risk of death when infected with SARS-CoV-2. CONCLUSIONS The distribution of participants by total household income and education followed approximately that of the US and UK general population. The findings from this online survey could guide information campaigns by public health authorities, clinicians, and the media. More broadly, rapid online surveys could be an important tool in tracking the public’s knowledge and misperceptions during rapidly moving infectious disease outbreaks.

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Using rapid online surveys to assess perceptions during infectious disease outbreaks: a cross-sectional survey on Covid-19 among the general public in the United States and United Kingdom

10.1101/2020.03.13.20035568 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Pascal Geldsetzer

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Household Income ◽

General Public ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

The United States ◽

Online Surveys ◽

Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽

The Us ◽

Total Household Income ◽

The Uk

AbstractBackgroundGiven the extensive time needed to conduct a nationally representative household survey and the commonly low response rate in phone surveys, rapid online surveys may be a promising method to assess and track knowledge and perceptions among the general public during fast-moving infectious disease outbreaks.ObjectiveTo apply rapid online surveying to determine knowledge and perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) among the general public in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).MethodsAn online questionnaire was administered to 3,000 adults residing in the US and 3,000 adults residing in the UK who had registered with Prolific Academic to participate in online research. Strata by age (18 - 27, 28 - 37, 38 - 47, 48 - 57, or ≥58 years), sex (male or female), and ethnicity (White, Black or African American, Asian or Asian Indian, Mixed, or “Other”), and all permutations of these strata, were established. The number of participants who could enrol in each of these strata was calculated to reflect the distribution in the US and UK general population. Enrolment into the survey within the strata was on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants completed the questionnaire between February 23 and March 2 2020.Results2,986 and 2,988 adults residing in the US and the UK, respectively, completed the questionnaire. 64.4% (1,924/2,986) of US and 51.5% (1,540/2,988) of UK participants had a tertiary education degree. 67.5% (2,015/2,986) of US participants had a total household income between $20,000 and $99,999, and 74.4% (2,223/2,988) of UK participants had a total household income between £15,000 and £74,999. US and UK participants’ median estimate for the probability of a fatal disease course among those infected with SARS-CoV-2 was 5.0% (IQR: 2.0% – 15.0%) and 3.0% (IQR: 2.0% – 10.0%), respectively. Participants generally had good knowledge of the main mode of disease transmission and common symptoms of Covid-19. However, a substantial proportion of participants had misconceptions about how to prevent an infection and the recommended care-seeking behavior. For instance, 37.8% (95% CI: 36.1% – 39.6%) of US and 29.7% (95% CI: 28.1% – 31.4%) of UK participants thought that wearing a common surgical mask was ‘highly effective’ in protecting them from acquiring Covid-19. 25.6% (95% CI: 24.1% – 27.2%) of US and 29.6% (95% CI: 28.0% – 31.3%) of UK participants thought it prudent to refrain from eating at Chinese restaurants. Around half (53.8% [95% CI: 52.1% – 55.6%] of US and 39.1% [95% CI: 37.4% –40.9%] of UK participants) thought that children were at an especially high risk of death when infected with SARS-CoV-2.ConclusionsThe distribution of participants by total household income and education followed approximately that of the general population. The findings from this online survey could guide information campaigns by public health authorities, clinicians, and the media. More broadly, rapid online surveys could be an important tool in tracking the public’s knowledge and misperceptions during rapidly moving infectious disease outbreaks.

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Assessing COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy: A Preliminary Online Survey

10.20944/preprints202007.0295.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Luigi Roberto Biasio ◽

Guglielmo Bonaccorsi ◽

Chiara Lorini ◽

Sergio Pecorelli

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Online Survey ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Functional Score ◽

Face To Face ◽

Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽

The Mean

The Covid-19 infodemic can be countered by scientific evidences, clear and consistent communication and improved health literacy of both individuals in need of information and those providing it. A rapid online survey was carried out to evaluate vaccine literacy (VL) skills in the general population and perceptions about candidate Covid-19 vaccines, as well as behavior and beliefs about current vaccinations. Observed VL levels were sufficiently high and consistent with previous observations - where comparable self-reported tools were administered face-to-face and paper-and-pencil - the mean functional score being =2.92, while the interactive-critical one was =3.27, on a maximum of 4. Perceptions regarding future Covid-19 vaccines, along with beliefs about vaccination, were mostly positive and significantly associated with functional and interactive-critical VL scales. Despite obvious limitations, the study confirms that rapid surveys via web are a suitable method to evaluate and trail attitudes during infectious disease outbreaks, and to assess health literacy skills about vaccination, which can be useful to adapt medical communication strategies, for a better understanding of the value of immunization.

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Use of Rapid Online Surveys to Assess People's Perceptions During Infectious Disease Outbreaks: A Cross-sectional Survey on COVID-19

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/18790 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. e18790 ◽

Cited By ~ 92

Author(s):

Pascal Geldsetzer

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

United States ◽

United Kingdom ◽

Household Income ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

The United States ◽

Online Surveys ◽

Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Total Household Income

Background Given the extensive time needed to conduct a nationally representative household survey and the commonly low response rate of phone surveys, rapid online surveys may be a promising method to assess and track knowledge and perceptions among the general public during fast-moving infectious disease outbreaks. Objective This study aimed to apply rapid online surveying to determine knowledge and perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the general public in the United States and the United Kingdom. Methods An online questionnaire was administered to 3000 adults residing in the United States and 3000 adults residing in the United Kingdom who had registered with Prolific Academic to participate in online research. Prolific Academic established strata by age (18-27, 28-37, 38-47, 48-57, or ≥58 years), sex (male or female), and ethnicity (white, black or African American, Asian or Asian Indian, mixed, or “other”), as well as all permutations of these strata. The number of participants who could enroll in each of these strata was calculated to reflect the distribution in the US and UK general population. Enrollment into the survey within each stratum was on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants completed the questionnaire between February 23 and March 2, 2020. Results A total of 2986 and 2988 adults residing in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, completed the questionnaire. Of those, 64.4% (1924/2986) of US participants and 51.5% (1540/2988) of UK participants had a tertiary education degree, 67.5% (2015/2986) of US participants had a total household income between US $20,000 and US $99,999, and 74.4% (2223/2988) of UK participants had a total household income between £15,000 and £74,999. US and UK participants’ median estimate for the probability of a fatal disease course among those infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was 5.0% (IQR 2.0%-15.0%) and 3.0% (IQR 2.0%-10.0%), respectively. Participants generally had good knowledge of the main mode of disease transmission and common symptoms of COVID-19. However, a substantial proportion of participants had misconceptions about how to prevent an infection and the recommended care-seeking behavior. For instance, 37.8% (95% CI 36.1%-39.6%) of US participants and 29.7% (95% CI 28.1%-31.4%) of UK participants thought that wearing a common surgical mask was “highly effective” in protecting them from acquiring COVID-19, and 25.6% (95% CI 24.1%-27.2%) of US participants and 29.6% (95% CI 28.0%-31.3%) of UK participants thought it was prudent to refrain from eating at Chinese restaurants. Around half (53.8%, 95% CI 52.1%-55.6%) of US participants and 39.1% (95% CI 37.4%-40.9%) of UK participants thought that children were at an especially high risk of death when infected with SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions The distribution of participants by total household income and education followed approximately that of the US and UK general population. The findings from this online survey could guide information campaigns by public health authorities, clinicians, and the media. More broadly, rapid online surveys could be an important tool in tracking the public’s knowledge and misperceptions during rapidly moving infectious disease outbreaks.

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Infectious disease outbreaks in the African region: overview of events reported to the World Health Organization in 2018

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268819001912 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 147 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

F. Mboussou ◽

P. Ndumbi ◽

R. Ngom ◽

Z. Kassamali ◽

O. Ogundiran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Disease Onset ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Case Fatality ◽

World Health ◽

African Region ◽

Regional Office ◽

Member States ◽

Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽

The World

Abstract The WHO African region is characterised by the largest infectious disease burden in the world. We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis using records of all infectious disease outbreaks formally reported to the WHO in 2018 by Member States of the African region. We analysed the spatio-temporal distribution, the notification delay as well as the morbidity and mortality associated with these outbreaks. In 2018, 96 new disease outbreaks were reported across 36 of the 47 Member States. The most commonly reported disease outbreak was cholera which accounted for 20.8% (n = 20) of all events, followed by measles (n = 11, 11.5%) and Yellow fever (n = 7, 7.3%). About a quarter of the outbreaks (n = 23) were reported following signals detected through media monitoring conducted at the WHO regional office for Africa. The median delay between the disease onset and WHO notification was 16 days (range: 0–184). A total of 107 167 people were directly affected including 1221 deaths (mean case fatality ratio (CFR): 1.14% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07%–1.20%)). The highest CFR was observed for diseases targeted for eradication or elimination: 3.45% (95% CI 0.89%–10.45%). The African region remains prone to outbreaks of infectious diseases. It is therefore critical that Member States improve their capacities to rapidly detect, report and respond to public health events.

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