Abstract
ObjectiveThis study aims to determine the level of fear of coronavirus disease—2019 (COVID-19) among the general public in Saudi Arabia and the association of its scores with their level of health literacy.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the general population in Saudi Arabia from April 2020 to May 2020. A three-part online self-reported survey was used to assess the participants' demographic characteristics, fear of COVID-19 of the participants, and levels of health literacy.ResultsOf the 848 participants, 56.8% were in the age group of 25–34, 45.6% were females, and 57.1% had a bachelor's degree. The total mean score of the fear of COVID-19 scale of the participants was FCoV-19: mean ± SD = 19.60 ± 7.33 and the health literacy was HL index: mean ± SD = 27.57 ± 11.05. There was a significant difference in the scores of fear of COVID-19 scale in terms of age (F = 2.442, p = 0.050), representing that those aged 45 and above had higher mean fear scores than the younger participants. The analysis revealed that an increased level of fear of COVID-19 was associated with older age (B = 1.87; p = 0.020), being unemployed (B = 0.76; p = 0.023), with no formal education (B = 0.89; p = 0.001), and low level of health literacy (B = 0.02; p = 0.021).ConclusionThe study shows an above-average level of fear of COVID-19 of the general public in Saudi Arabia and its association with a low level of functional health literacy. Timely and comprehensive health interventions should be promoted to enhance the level of health literacy and further reduce the level of fear of COVID-19 in the community.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus disease—2019 (COVID-19) was a virus first identified in Wuhan, China last December 2019 [1]
This study aims to determine the level of fear of COVID-19 among the general public in Saudi Arabia and the association of its scores with their level of health literacy
With regards to the level of health literacy, the analysis showed that the participants had above average or marginal functional health literacy (HL index: mean ± SD = 27.57 ± 11.05)
Summary
The novel coronavirus disease—2019 (COVID-19) was a virus first identified in Wuhan, China last December 2019 [1]. This pneumonia-like disease has caused significant damage globally, which affects more than 227 countries [2]. Because of the unprecedented damage to public health, WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. Fear of COVID-19 and Health Literacy in KSA severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) had reached more than 40 million with 782,456 confirmed deaths worldwide [3]. In Saudi Arabia, there are more than 300,000 confirmed cases [3]. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged different leaders to address the sporadic spread of the disease. Different governments around the world have enforced several preventive measures such as flight restriction, lockdowns, and quarantine to contain and prevent transmission [4]
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