Risk Perceptions, Knowledge and Behaviors of General and High-Risk Adult Populations towards COVID-19: A Systematic Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a major crisis for governments and populations around the globe. A large number of studies have been conducted worldwide to understand people's awareness and behavioral response towards the disease. The public's risk perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors are key factors that play a vital role in the transmission of infectious diseases. Our scoping review aims to map the early evidence on risk perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors of general and high-risk adult populations towards COVID-19. Methods: A systematic scoping review was conducted of peer-reviewed articles in five databases (MEDLINE-Ovid, EMBASE-Ovid, PsycINFO-Ovid, Web of Science, and CINAHL-EBSCO) on studies conducted during the early stage of COVID-19 (January to June, 2020). The gray literature was also searched through Open Grey, Scopus, Wonder, Social Science Research Network, MedRxiv, and websites of major public health organizations. Twenty studies meeting the inclusion criteria were included, appraised and analyzed. Results: During the early stage of the pandemic, levels of risk perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors towards COVID-19 were moderate to high in both general and high-risk adult populations. The perceived severity of the disease was slightly higher than the perceived susceptibility of getting COVID-19 during the first wave of COVID-19. Adults were knowledgeable about preventive behaviors, including hand-washing, mask-wearing, social distancing, and avoidance behaviors. Nevertheless, an important knowledge gap regarding the asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 was reported in many studies. Our review identified hand-washing and avoiding crowded places as dominant preventive behaviors at the early stage of the pandemic. Staying at home, reducing social contacts, and avoiding public transport were less widespread in general populations than in high-risk adult groups. Being a female, older, and more educated was associated with better knowledge of COVID-19 and appropriate preventive behaviors. Conclusion: This scoping review offers a first understanding of general and high-risk adults' risk perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors towards COVID-19 during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research should be undertaken to assess psychological and behavioral responses over time. Research gaps have been identified in the relationship between ethnicity and risk perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors towards COVID-19.

Risk Perception and Protective Health Measure Regarding COVID-19 among Nepali Labour Migrants’ Returnee from India

“…COVID-19 patients in Wuhan China and waiters in Southern Ethiopia Zhong et al (2021) and Asefa et al (2020)respectively found respondents had a higher risk perception of the COVID-19. During the first wave of COVID-19, a systematic study found that the perceived seriousness of the disease was significantly higher than the perceived vulnerability to haveing COVID-19 (Clavel et al, 2021).…”

“…Gloves, surgical masks, N95 masks, protective glasses, disposable aprons/overalls, and aprons/jerseys were all used at a rate of 96.6%, 98%, 36%, 21%, 12%, and 22%, respectively (Arslanca et al, 2021). A systematic review conducted on adult found that they were knowledgeable about protective behaviours such as hand-washing, mask-wearing, social distancing, and avoidance behaviours (Clavel et al, 2021).…”

A Systematic Map of Non-Clinical Evidence Syntheses Published Globally on COVID-19

“…As such, countries, governments, and organizations have dedicated a considerable amount of attention to identifying, examining, and researching the various impacts of the pandemic on systems, communities, and individuals. This research agenda has led to the publication of thousands of primary studies and evidence syntheses on prevention and control methods, 1 redesigning health services, 2 challenges with using telemedicine, 3 mental health issues among health care providers, 4 risk perceptions and behaviors of the general population, 5 and more. Evidence syntheses perform rigorous and systematic investigations of the primary literature to provide knowledge about an unknown topic in order to augment decisionmaking.…”