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Article: Anxiety levels, precautionary behaviours and public perceptions during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China: a population-based cross-sectional survey

TitleAnxiety levels, precautionary behaviours and public perceptions during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China: a population-based cross-sectional survey
Authors
Keywordshealth policy
mental health
public health
Issue Date2020
PublisherBMJ Publishing Group: BMJ Open. The Journal's web site is located at http://bmjopen.bmj.com
Citation
BMJ Open, 2020, v. 10 n. 10, p. article no. e040910 How to Cite?
AbstractObjective: To investigate psychological and behavioural responses to COVID-19 among the Chinese general population. Design, setting and participants: We conducted a population-based mobile phone survey between 1 February and 10 February 2020 via random digit dialling. A total of 1011 adult residents in Wuhan (n=510), the epicentre and quarantined city, and Shanghai (n=501) were interviewed. Proportional quota sampling and poststratification weighting were used. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate perception factors associated with the public responses. Primary outcome measures: We measured anxiety levels using the 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and asked respondents to report their precautionary behaviours before and during the outbreak. Results: The prevalence of moderate or severe anxiety was significantly higher (p<0.001) in Wuhan (32.8%) than Shanghai (20.5%). Around 79.6%–88.2% residents reported always wearing a face mask when they went out and washing hands immediately when they returned home, with no discernible difference across cities. Only 35.5%–37.0% of residents reported a handwashing duration above 40 s as recommended by the WHO. The strongest predictor of moderate or severe anxiety was perceived harm of the disease (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.5 to 2.1), followed by confusion about information reliability (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.5 to 1.9). None of the examined perception factors were associated with odds of handwashing duration above 40 s. Conclusions: Prevalence of moderate or severe anxiety and strict personal precautionary behaviours was generally high, regardless of the quarantine status. Our results support efforts for handwashing education programmes with a focus on hygiene procedures in China and timely dissemination of reliable information.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/291207
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 2.4
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.971
PubMed Central ID
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorQian, M-
dc.contributor.authorWu, Q-
dc.contributor.authorWu, P-
dc.contributor.authorHou, Z-
dc.contributor.authorLiang, Y-
dc.contributor.authorCowling, BJ-
dc.contributor.authorYu, H-
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-07T13:53:48Z-
dc.date.available2020-11-07T13:53:48Z-
dc.date.issued2020-
dc.identifier.citationBMJ Open, 2020, v. 10 n. 10, p. article no. e040910-
dc.identifier.issn2044-6055-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/291207-
dc.description.abstractObjective: To investigate psychological and behavioural responses to COVID-19 among the Chinese general population. Design, setting and participants: We conducted a population-based mobile phone survey between 1 February and 10 February 2020 via random digit dialling. A total of 1011 adult residents in Wuhan (n=510), the epicentre and quarantined city, and Shanghai (n=501) were interviewed. Proportional quota sampling and poststratification weighting were used. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate perception factors associated with the public responses. Primary outcome measures: We measured anxiety levels using the 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and asked respondents to report their precautionary behaviours before and during the outbreak. Results: The prevalence of moderate or severe anxiety was significantly higher (p<0.001) in Wuhan (32.8%) than Shanghai (20.5%). Around 79.6%–88.2% residents reported always wearing a face mask when they went out and washing hands immediately when they returned home, with no discernible difference across cities. Only 35.5%–37.0% of residents reported a handwashing duration above 40 s as recommended by the WHO. The strongest predictor of moderate or severe anxiety was perceived harm of the disease (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.5 to 2.1), followed by confusion about information reliability (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.5 to 1.9). None of the examined perception factors were associated with odds of handwashing duration above 40 s. Conclusions: Prevalence of moderate or severe anxiety and strict personal precautionary behaviours was generally high, regardless of the quarantine status. Our results support efforts for handwashing education programmes with a focus on hygiene procedures in China and timely dissemination of reliable information.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherBMJ Publishing Group: BMJ Open. The Journal's web site is located at http://bmjopen.bmj.com-
dc.relation.ispartofBMJ Open-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjecthealth policy-
dc.subjectmental health-
dc.subjectpublic health-
dc.titleAnxiety levels, precautionary behaviours and public perceptions during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China: a population-based cross-sectional survey-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.identifier.emailWu, P: pengwu@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailCowling, BJ: bcowling@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.authorityWu, P=rp02025-
dc.identifier.authorityCowling, BJ=rp01326-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040910-
dc.identifier.pmid33033099-
dc.identifier.pmcidPMC7545627-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-85092685838-
dc.identifier.hkuros318644-
dc.identifier.volume10-
dc.identifier.issue10-
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. e040910-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. e040910-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000582255900025-
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdom-
dc.identifier.issnl2044-6055-

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