Abstract
There is evidence that a lack of appropriate knowledge regarding global changes might be associated with various psychopathological responses. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that knowledge about COVID-19 correlates with the severity of psychopathological symptoms as measured by standardized questionnaires. The questionnaires were obtained using the Computer Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI) method during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland using the original COVID-19 knowledge questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). A series of bivariate tests and linear regression analyses were performed with a p < 0.05. All analyses were performed in Statistica 13.3. We enrolled 1,002 respondents. The rate of correct answers in the original questionnaire ranged from 44.6 to 84.1%, and the average was 60.1%. Four hundred and twenty participants (42%) met the criterion for the presence of relevant psychopathological symptoms. A significant negative correlation was found between the number of points obtained in the COVID-19 knowledge questionnaire and the GHQ-28 scores, both in relation to the total score and all its subscales. The following factors in the linear regression model were correlated with severity of somatic symptoms: knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic (B = −0.12, P = 0.000), sex (B = 0.12, P = 0.000), use of psychiatric or psychological care (B = 0.20, P < 0.000) and chronic diseases (B = 0.09, P = 0.002). In this study, we observed a negative correlation between the knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic and the severity of psychopathological symptoms. The results clearly indicate that the complexity of the global problem of the current pandemic is related to the development of psychopathological symptoms. However, longitudinal studies are needed to identify the direction of causality.
Highlights
A new type of Coronaviruses Severe Acute Coronavirus Disease2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported for the first time in China in December 2019 [1], and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced pandemic [2]
In the initial period of the pandemic, analyzes performed by WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modeling predicted that the effects of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic would be comparable to the 1918 flu pandemic [3], which had resulted in 50 million deaths and 28 years mean death age
At the time of writing this article, we are witnessing a second wave of the virus epidemic and, according to the recommendations introduced by the WHO regarding the principles of reporting deaths [4], so far, approximately 1.7 million people have died due to COVID-19 [5]
Summary
A new type of Coronaviruses Severe Acute Coronavirus Disease (SARS-CoV-2) causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported for the first time in China in December 2019 [1], and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced pandemic [2]. There has been a significant reduction in the total number of hospitalizations and elective procedures [14, 15], including hospitalizations due to acute coronary syndrome [16, 17] and total reduction of cancer surgeries [18]. It was observed an increase in the total number of deaths compared to previous years, regardless of the impact of deaths caused by COVID-19 [19]
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