Importance: At the beginning of a public health crisis, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is important to collect information about people's knowledge, worries, and behaviors to examine their influence on quality of life and to understand individual characteristics associated with these reactions. Such information could help to guide health authorities in providing informed interventions and clear communications.
Objectives: To document the initial knowledge about COVID-19 and recommended health behaviors; to assess worries (ie, one's perception of the influence of the worries of others on oneself), social appraisal, and preventive behaviors, comparing respondents from areas under different movement restrictions during the first week after the outbreak; and to understand how worries, perceived risk, and preventive behaviors were associated with quality of life and individual characteristics among Italian adults.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This convenience sample, nonprobablistic survey study recruited adult participants with a snowballing sampling method in any Italian region during the first week of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy from February 26, 2020, to March 4, 2020. Data were analyzed from March 5 to 12, 2020.
Exposures: Information was collected from citizens living in the quarantine zone (ie, red zone), area with restricted movements (ie, yellow zone), and COVID-19-free regions (ie, green zone).
Main Outcomes And Measures: Levels of knowledge on the virus, contagion-related worries, social appraisal, and preventive behaviors were assessed with ratings of quality of life (measured using the Short Form Health Survey). Additionally, some individual characteristics that may be associated with worries and behaviors were assessed, including demographic characteristics, personality traits (measured using Big Five Inventory-10), perceived health control (measured using the internal control measure in the Health Locus of Control scale), optimism (measured using the Revised Life Orientation Test), and the need for cognitive closure (measured using the Need for Closure Scale).
Results: A total of 3109 individuals accessed the online questionnaire, and 2886 individuals responded to the questionnaire at least partially (mean [SD] age, 30.7 [13.2] years; 2203 [76.3%] women). Most participants were well informed about the virus characteristics and suggested behaviors, with a mean (SD) score of 77.4% (17.3%) correct answers. Quality of life was similar across the 3 zones (effect size = 0.02), but mental health was negatively associated with contagion-related worries (β = -0.066), social appraisal (β = -0.221), and preventive behaviors (β = -0.066) in the yellow zone (R2 = 0.108). Social appraisal was also associated with reduced psychological well-being in the green zone (β = -0.205; R2 = 0.121). In the yellow zone, higher worries were negatively correlated with emotional stability (β = -0.165; R2 = 0.047). Emotional stability was also negatively associated with perceived susceptibility in the yellow (β = -0.108; R2 = 0.040) and green (β = -0.170; R2 = 0.087) zones. Preventative behaviors and social appraisal were also associated with the need for cognitive closure in both yellow (preventive behavior: β = 0.110; R2 = 0.023; social appraisal β = 0.115; R2 = 0.104) and green (preventive behavior: β = 0.174; R2 = 0.022; social appraisal: 0.261; R2 = 0.137) zones.
Conclusions And Relevance: These findings suggest that during the first week of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, people were well informed and had a relatively stable level of worries. Quality of life did not vary across the areas, although mental well-being was challenged by the social appraisal and worries related to the contagion. Increased scores for worries and concerns were associated with more cognitive rigidity and emotional instability.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7382000 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.15821 | DOI Listing |
Learn Health Syst
January 2025
Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University New York New York USA.
Introduction: Health care professionals often generate novel solutions to solve problems during day-to-day patient care. However, less is known about generating novel and useful (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Urogynecol J
January 2025
Research Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Iranian EBM Centre: A JBI Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Attar-E-Neishabouri Sqr., Tabriz, 51666, Iran.
Introduction And Hypothesis: When adopting new methods, surgeons may experience a period of complexity and longer operation times because of their inexperience. This period is known as the "learning curve." This study was aimed at systematically reviewing the current literature on functional urology learning curves.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Med Internet Res
January 2025
College of Nursing, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Background: Early intervention during the first 3 years of life is crucial for children with developmental disabilities to optimize developmental outcomes. However, access to such services is often limited by geographical distance and resource constraints. Telehealth can be part of a solution for overcoming these barriers, enabling the delivery of early intervention services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
January 2025
Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Introduction: There is international interest in using patient-reported outcome measures in HIV care to improve the well-being of people with HIV, but the prioritisation of specific outcomes and measures remains unclear. This project's objective is to engage both people with HIV and healthcare, social and community service providers to develop a French and English-language core set of patient-reported outcomes and measures for use in HIV care at the patient level in Montreal (Canada).
Methods And Analysis: This multimethod project will follow guidance from the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials Initiative and involve two phases.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
January 2025
Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex, Essex, CO4 3SQ, UK.
Background: Population-levels of physical activity have remained stagnant for years. Previous approaches to modify behaviour have broadly neglected the importance of whole-systems approaches. Our research aimed to (i) understand, (ii) map, (iii) identify the leverage points, and (iv) develop solutions surrounding participation in physical activity across an English rural county.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!