A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak

Coco, Gianluca Lo; Gentile, Ambra; Bosnar, Ksenija; Milovanović, Ivana; Bianco, Antonino; Drid, Patrik; Pišot, Saša

doi:10.3390/ijerph18052586

Cited by 58 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Another interesting result that came out comparing our two studies was that in both reference periods, yellow codes increased, and green codes decreased compared to their corresponding timeframes in 2019 but, in September–November 2020, yellow codes increased, and green codes decreased to a lesser extent than March–May 2020, when lockdown measures were more stringent (yellow codes: +11.1% vs. +2.8%; green codes: −10.8% vs. −4%, respectively) [ 6 ]. These results may highlight that a lesser sense of fear concerning SARS-CoV-2 [ 27 ] and more organized primary cares have limited the number of patients that delayed their ER visits, in contrast to what happened during the first wave of pandemic [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. In particular, a more intense sense of fear was demonstrated in people living in high-death-rate countries with strict lockdown measures [ 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Relaxed Lockdown on Pediatric ER Visits during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Italy

Matera

Nenna

Morini

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Previously, we demonstrated an 81% reduction in pediatric Emergency Room (ER) visits in Italy during the strict lockdown due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Since May 2020, lockdown measures were relaxed until 6 November 2020, when a strict lockdown was patchily reintroduced. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of the relaxed lockdown on pediatric ER visits in Italy. We performed a retrospective multicenter study involving 14 Italian pediatric ERs. We compared total ER visits from 24 September 2020 to 6 November 2020 with those during the corresponding timeframe in 2019. We evaluated 17 ER specific diagnoses grouped in air communicable and non-air communicable diseases. We recognized four different triage categories: white, green, yellow and red. In 2020 total ER visits were reduced by 51% compared to 2019 (16,088 vs. 32,568, respectively). The decrease in air communicable diseases was significantly higher if compared to non-air communicable diseases (−64% vs. −42%, respectively). ER visits in each triage category decreased in 2020 compared to 2019, but in percentage, white and red codes remained stable, while yellow codes slightly increased and green codes slightly decreased. Our results suggest that preventive measures drastically reduced the circulation of air communicable diseases even during the reopening of social activities but to a lesser extent with regard to the strict lockdown period (March–May 2020).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Relaxed Lockdown on Pediatric ER Visits during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Italy

Matera

Nenna

Morini

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…Aggravating this scenario is the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 . The forced home isolation among rural residents has further reduced social connections in communities [9][10][11]. It is considered pertinent to understand how COVID-19 has reduced social participation and, thus, connections in communities [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The countermeasures to contain COVID-19 have forced governments to suppress rural social norms such as Osekkai. The lack of social interaction and participation can deteriorate people's mental and physical health [9][10][11]. Thus, we must find ways to revitalize culturally sensitive activities such as Osekkai under the constraints of COVID-19 for the improvement of people's health conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Social Participation through Osekkai during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ohta¹,

Yata²,

Arakawa

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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We investigated the effects of enabling Osekkai, the traditional Japanese behavior of creating a helping culture, on social participation among rural people in rebuilding social connections that can be vital during the coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The subjects of this cross-sectional study were people interested in the Osekkai conference (control group) and those actively involved in Osekkai activities (exposure group). The primary outcome of social participation was measured as the frequency of meeting and the number of friends or acquaintances. The demographic data of the participants and process outcomes were measured using a questionnaire provided to all 287 registered participants. The effective response rate was 64.5% (185 responses). The involvement in Osekkai conferences was statistically associated with a high frequency and number of meetings with friends or acquaintances (p < 0.001 and 0.048, respectively). A health check was significantly associated with the number of friends or acquaintances met in the previous month, while high social support was significantly associated with loneliness. Thus, we confirm that Osekkai contributes to high social participation, although we see no relationship with loneliness. Future studies should investigate this cause-and-effect relationship and promote culturally sensitive activities to improve social and health outcomes in rural Japan.

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“…This study is part of a larger cross-sectional comparative study of everyday life practices in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic (ELP-COVID-19 survey) (3,15) conducted in nine European countries, besides ITA and SLO, also Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain, from April 15 to 28 2020, with the aim to identify the changes of everyday life practices and routines during the period before (baseline) and during the COVID-19 pandemic measures. ELP (Everyday life praxis) COVID-19 (ELP COVID-19) consortium of six partners from Science and Research Centre Koper (Slovenia), Faculties of sport, University of Novi Sad (Serbia), University of Palermo (Italy), University of Zagreb (Croatia), University of Prešov (Slovakia), University of Cadiz (Spain) has been established for this purpose.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Differences of Slovenian and Italian Daily Practices Experienced in the First Wave of Covid-19 Pandemic

Pišot

Šimunič

Gentile

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic situation with the lockdown of public life caused serious changes in people's everyday practices. The study evaluates the differences between Slovenia and Italy in health-related everyday practices induced by the restrictive measures during first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: The study examined changes through an online survey conducted in nine European countries from April 15-28, 2020. The survey included questions from a simple activity inventory questionnaire (SIMPAQ), the European Health Interview Survey, and some other questions. To compare changes between countries with low and high incidence of COVID-19 epidemic, we examine 956 valid responses from Italy (N=511; 50% males) and Slovenia (N=445; 26% males).Results: During the survey, there was a 4.7-fold higher incidence and 12.1-fold more deaths (per 100,000) in Italy than in Slovenia. Barring periods and measures were similar, the latter more stringent in Italy. We found more changes in Italy than in Slovenia: physical inactivity increased (Italy: +65% vs. Slovenia: +21%; p< 0.001), walking time decreased (Italy: -68% vs. Slovenia: -4.4%; p< 0.001); physical work increased by 38% in Slovenia (p< 0.001), and recreation time decreased by 37% in Italy (p< 0.001). Italians reported a decrease in quality of general health, fitness level, psychological well-being, and quality of life (p<0.001); Slovenians showed a decline in psychological well-being and quality of life (p<0.001) but generally had a higher concern for their own health (p=0.005). Changes in eating habits (meal size and consumption of unhealthy food), age and physical inactivity were positively correlated with increases in body mass, while changes in general well-being and concern for health were negatively correlated.Conclusion: The study highlights the implications of COVID-19 measures and epidemiological data and provides insight into the relationship between them and various lifestyle consequences of COVID-19 measures. These findings should be taken into consideration in the implementation of further measures to mitigate the COVI-19 pandemic.

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A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak

Cited by 58 publications

References 54 publications

Effects of Relaxed Lockdown on Pediatric ER Visits during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Italy

Effects of Relaxed Lockdown on Pediatric ER Visits during SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Italy

Rural Social Participation through Osekkai during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Differences of Slovenian and Italian Daily Practices Experienced in the First Wave of Covid-19 Pandemic

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