Relationships among COVID-19 Prevention Practices, Risk Perception and Individual Characteristics: A Temporal Analysis

Abstract

The effectiveness of public health measures in containing an infectious disease largely depends on how the general public is taking the prevention practices in daily lives. Previous studies have shown that different risk perceptions and sociodemographic characteristics may lead to vastly different prevention behaviors. This paper applies a temporal perspective in examining the changing patterns of prevention practices over time and their dynamic relationships with the perceived risk towards COVID-19 and its individual characteristics. Three key timelines (February, April, and June of 2020) were identified to represent the early, lockdown, and reopening stages of the first wave. Data were drawn from an online survey conducted in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Canada (n = 470). Chi-square tests and logistic regression models revealed important temporal patterns in practicing different hygienic and mobility-related prevention measures and the respondents’ risk perceptions during the three timelines. The factors predicting the level of prevention practices vary across the three timelines, based on the specific type of prevention, and within the changing public health contexts. This study contributes to the literature on COVID-19 by incorporating a temporal perspective in conceptualizing prevention predictors. It provides crucial insights for developing timely public health strategies to improve infectious disease prevention at different stages and for individuals with varying backgrounds.

The relationship between new PCR positive cases and going out in public during the COVID-19 epidemic in Japan

“…Thirdly, people’s experiences in the first wave, the “new lifestyle” advocated by the government at the end of the first wave, and the two factors mentioned above provided people with the sense that the risk of spreading COVID-19 would decrease soon, even when the infection started spreading again. This is consistent with studies in various countries showing that the effectiveness of lockdowns and the degree of compliance with restrictions diminish with the passage of time [ 52 – 54 ]. This result was likely attributable to the previous observation that the levels of people’s anxiety and their preventive behaviors decrease as their perception of the seriousness and immediacy of the threat reduced [ 44 , 70 ].…”

“…Previous studies showed the association between an increase in the number of new PCR positive cases and a decrease in people’s mobility [ 45 – 50 ], and that the government declaration is effective to lead people to stay home [ 51 ]. In addition, studies in various countries showed that the degree of compliance with restrictions diminished over time [ 52 – 54 ].…”