COVID-19 precautionary behavior: the Israeli case in the initial stage of the outbreak
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(2020) 20:1718
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
COVID-19 precautionary behavior: the Israeli case in the initial stage of the outbreak Shiri Shinan-Altman1* and Inbar Levkovich2
Abstract Background: The lay public’s behavioral responses during a virus spread, such as the COVID-19, play an important role in bringing the outbreak under control, and provide insights into development of risk communication messages to the public. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the association between knowledge about COVID19, perceived susceptibility, emotional reactions and precautionary behavior among the Israeli lay public at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1407 participants, aged 18 + . Participants completed measures of knowledge about COVID-19, perceived susceptibility, emotional reactions, precautionary behavior, and socio-demographic questionnaires. A hierarchical regression model was calculated with precautionary behavior as the dependent variable. Results: Findings indicated that precautionary behavior was higher for females, older participants, participants with higher levels of knowledge about COVID-19, and participants with greater negative emotional reactions. A negative curvilinear relationship was found between perceived susceptibility and precautionary behavior, so that the latter was highest for participants with moderate perceived susceptibility. All interaction terms were non-significant. Conclusions: Findings suggest that in order to enhance precautionary behavior in the initial stage of a virus outbreak, it is recommended to pay attention to the public’s knowledge about the virus, perceived susceptibility and emotional reactions. Although negative feelings about the virus may motivate preventive behavior, it is important to address these feelings. Keywords: COVID-19, Emotional reactions, Knowledge about COVID-19, Precautionary behavior, Perceived susceptibility
Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 [1]. The average incubation period for COVID-19 was estimated to be about 5.1 days [2]. The most common clinical symptoms are cough and fever, in addition to other non-specific symptomatology, such as dyspnea, fatigue, muscle soreness and headache * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
[3]. Most people contracting the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without particular treatment [4, 5]. However, older adults, and those with underlying medical problems - such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and chronic respiratory disease are more likely to develop a serious illness [4, 6]. First appearing in December 2019 in China, COVID-19 has rapidly spread around the globe [7], including Israel. The first Israeli person with COVID-19 was diagnosed on February 21, 2020. Since then, in Israel, thou
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