Testing for COVID-19: willful ignorance or selfless behavior?

Abstract

Widespread testing is key to controlling the spread of COVID-19. But should we worry about self-selection bias in the testing? The recent literature on willful ignorance says we should – people often avoid health information. In the context of COVID-19, such willful ignorance can bias testing data. Furthermore, willful ignorance often arises when selfish wants conflict with social benefits, which might be particularly likely for potential ‘super-spreaders’ – people with many social interactions – given people who test positive are urged to self-isolate for two weeks. We design a survey in which participants (n = 897) choose whether to take a costless COVID-19 test. We find that 70% would take a test. Surprisingly, the people most likely to widely spread COVID-19 – the extraverts, others who meet more people in their daily lives and younger people – are the most willing to take a test. People's ability to financially or emotionally sustain self-isolation does not matter to their decision. We conclude that people are selfless in their decision to test for COVID-19. Our results are encouraging – they imply that COVOD-19 testing may succeed in targeting those who generate the largest social benefits from self-isolation if infected, which strengthens the case for widespread testing.

Selecting pharmacies for COVID-19 testing to ensure access

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Controlling COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mass Screening Experience in Saudi Arabia

“…Regions such as Eastern and Riyadh had a larger number of screened individuals compared to Makkah and Al-Madinah, despite that mass screening centers were equally distributed in most Saudi regions. These variabilities can be attributed to several factors, including peoples' lack of awareness, being afraid of the test, as well as being worried about positive test results ( 45 , 46 ). Thus, it is essential to improve risk communication and community engagement regarding COVID-19 pandemic ( 47 ).…”

Preprocedural Pool Testing Strategy for Dentistry during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This behavior is commonly known as willful ignorance or strategic ignorance, in which patients avoid medical diagnosis for the fear of social costs (14-d isolation, stigma, and opportunity cost), which outweigh any benefits of testing. This behavior is also seen in patients with other diseases like HIV or breast cancer ( Thunström et al 2020 ).…”