Community Behavioral and Perceived Responses in the COVID-19 Outbreak in Afghanistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: Community responses are important for the management of early-phase outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Perceived susceptibility and severity are considered key elements that motivate people to adopt nonpharmaceutical interventions. This study aimed to (i) explore perceived susceptibility and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) examine the practice of nonpharmaceutical interventions, and (iii) assess the potential association of perceived COVID-19 susceptibility and severity with the practice of nonpharmaceutical interventions among people living in Afghanistan. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used, using online surveys disseminated from April to May 2020. Convenience sampling was used to recruit the participants of this study. The previously developed scales were used to assess the participants’ demographic information, perceived risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and perceived severity of COVID-19. Multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the potential association of perceived COVID-19 susceptibility and severity with the practice of nonpharmaceutical interventions. Results: The Internet was the main source for obtaining COVID-19 information among participants in this study. While 45.8% of the participants believed it was “very unlikely” for them to get infected with COVID-19, 76.7% perceived COVID-19 as a severe disease. Similarly, 37.5% believed the chance of being cured if infected with COVID-19 is “unlikely/very unlikely.” The majority of participants (95.6%) perceived their health to be in “good” and “very good” status. Overall, 74.2% mentioned that they stopped visiting public places, 49.7% started using gloves, and 70.4% started wearing a mask. Participants who believed they have a low probability of survival if infected with COVID-19 were more likely to wear masks and practice hand washing. Conclusions: It appears that communities’ psychological and behavioral responses were affected by the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan, especially among young Internet users. The findings gained from a timely behavioral assessment of the community might be useful to develop interventions and risk communication strategies in epidemics within and beyond COVID-19.

Psychological impact of COVID-19 and determinants among Spanish university students

“…Watching TV to stay informed about COVID-19 was identified as another factor that contributed to the greater fear of COVID-19 among study participants. This finding is consistent with the idea that the coverage of COVID-19 in the mainstream media focused predominantly on negative issues (105), disseminating uncertainties about the virus, the global spread of the pandemic (106), the increasing number of cases and fatalities (107), government policies (108), and the rising demand for healthcare (109), all of which had psychological implications.…”

“…Finally, university students reported feeling less fear of COVID-19 if they believed they could survive the disease, whether they were already infected or might become infected in the future, in agreement with Tusey et al ( 110 ). In fact, participants in the study by Mousavi et al ( 111 ), who believed they had a low probability of surviving if infected with COVID-19 were more likely to practice preventive behavior. Considering that a significant majority of the participants in the present study were under 25 years of age, this is likely to be due to the scientific literature reporting high SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility but relatively low mortality rates in this age range ( 112–114 ).…”

Perception of Risk, Severity of Disease and Preventive Behaviors of COVID-19 in a New Epidemic Situation among People in Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand

“…Also, adolescents' adherence to COVID-19 preventative behaviors was related with perceived severity, either directly or indirectly, as pointed out by Park and Oh (2021). Inconsistent, there was no association between perceived COVID-19 severity and some preventative measures, like avoiding public transit and restaurants, according to the findings, as pointed out by Mousavi et al, (2021). Inconsistent, the perceived severity of COVID-19 was not associated with self-reported compliance with different personal preventive measures, as pointed out by Pan et al, (2020).…”

Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey

“…In the framework of the aforementioned WHO Global Initiative to Eliminate Cervical Cancer, it was calculated that, with HPV vaccination, two lifetime screening tests, and timely treatment of pre-invasive and invasive disease, over 185,000 cervical cancer deaths could be averted in Afghanistan between 2020 and 2120, ( 3 ) and thus the cost-effectiveness of a vaccination program is being evaluated in the country ( 29 ). However, in 2021 Afghanistan is destabilized not only by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic ( 30 ), but also by the return to power of the Taliban, which has previously been associated with poorer women's health status ( 31 – 34 ). Accordingly, humanitarian organizations working locally keep appealing to donors and policymakers to drastically increase the accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare ( 35 ).…”