Abstract
In January 2020, the WHO classified SARS-CoV-2 infection as a public health emergency and it was declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The media warned about the danger of infection, fuelling the population’s fear of the new situation and increasing the perception of risk. This fear can cause behaviour that will determine the course of the pandemic and, therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyse the fear of infection from COVID-19 among the Spanish population during the state of emergency. A cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted with 16,372 participants. Data on sociodemographic factors, health factors, risk perception and fear were collected through an online survey. Level of fear is associated with older age, a lower level of education, having a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the immediate surroundings and living with and belonging to the most socioeconomically vulnerable group of people. Risk perception is associated with increased preventive behaviour. This paper provides relevant information for the public health sector since it contributes first-hand knowledge of population data that is highly useful in terms of prevention. Understanding the experiences of people in this pandemic helps to create more effective future intervention strategies in terms of planning and management for crisis situations.
Highlights
In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the coronavirus infection, known as SARS-CoV-2, as a public health emergency [1]
In April 2020, Spain had been confined for more than 4 weeks, and there was no clear date set for when confinement would end, so we wondered what the population was concerned about; was there a sense of fear? Which part of the population was most likely to be afraid? Was there a correlation between perceived fear and compliance with the imposed rules? In order to answer these questions, the aim of this study was to analyse the fear of infection from COVID-19 among the Spanish population during the State of Emergency declared by Royal Decree on 14 March 2020
The results obtained reveal some characteristics of the population with a greater risk of fear in situations that favour infection by SARS-CoV-2, which allows elaboration of a of fear in situations that favour infection by SARS-CoV-2, which allows elaboration of a practical profile that can be used to develop of prevention strategies in the field of public practical profile that can be used to develop of prevention strategies in the field of public and community health
Summary
In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the coronavirus infection, known as SARS-CoV-2, as a public health emergency [1]. China, in December 2019 [2] and was declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. This new disease, known as COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person primarily through respiratory droplets, other forms of infection have been documented, such as faecal–oral transmission and through fomites.
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