The influence of risk perceptions on close contact frequency during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Wambua, James; Hermans, Lisa; Coletti, Pietro; Verelst, Frederik; Willem, Lander; Jarvis, Christopher; Gimma, Amy; Wong, Kerry L. M.; Lajot, Adrien; Demarest, Stefaan; Edmunds, W. John; Faes, Christel; Beutels, Philippe; Hens, Niel

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-996488/v1

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…This reduced number of contacts is likely a combination of self-isolation of individuals with comorbidities, who perceived themselves at risk of COVID-19 complications, and efforts of their close contacts to protect them. As shown in other studies and previous CONNECT analyses, individuals who perceive themselves at risk of COVID-19 complications tend to have significantly fewer contacts than those who do not perceive themselves at risk [51-53]. However, keeping extremely low levels of social contacts for several months to decrease the risk of contracting COVID-19 can have a negative impact on mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…As shown in other studies and previous CONNECT analyses, individuals who perceive themselves at risk of COVID-19 complications tend to have significantly fewer contacts than those who do not perceive themselves at risk. [44][45][46] However, keeping extremely low levels of social contacts for several months to decrease the risk of contracting COVID-19 can have a negative impact on mental health. Indeed, several studies have described that social isolation during the pandemic was associated with increased psychological distress, including anxiety and depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Time trends in social contacts of individuals according to comorbidity and vaccination status, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Godbout

Drolet

Mondor

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Objectives: To describe time trends in social contacts of individuals according to comorbidity and vaccination status before and during the first three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, Canada. Design: Repeated cross-sectional population-based surveys. Setting: General population. Participants: Non-institutionalized adults from Quebec, Canada, recruited by random digit dialling before (2018/2019) and during the pandemic (April 2020 to July 2021). A total of 1441 and 5185 participants with and without comorbidities, respectively, were included in the analyses. Main outcome measures: Number of social contacts (two-way conversation at a distance ≤2 meters or a physical contact, irrespective of masking) documented in a self-administered web-based questionnaire. We compared the mean number of contacts according to the comorbidity status of participants (pre-existing medical conditions with symptoms/medication in the past 12 months) and 1-dose vaccination status during the third wave. All analyses were performed using weighted generalized linear models with a Poisson distribution and robust variance. Results: Contacts significantly decreased from a mean of 6.1 (95% confidence interval 4.9 to 7.3) before the pandemic to 3.2 (2.5 to 3.9) during the first wave among individuals with comorbidities, and from 8.1 (7.3 to 9.0) to 2.7 (2.2 to 3.2) among individuals without comorbidities. Individuals with comorbidities maintained fewer contacts than those without comorbidities in the second wave, with a significant difference before the Christmas 2020/2021 holidays (2.9 (2.5 to 3.2) v 3.9 (3.5 to 4.3); P<0.001). During the third wave, contacts were similar for individuals with (4.1, 3.4 to 4.7) and without comorbidities (4.5, 4.1 to 4.9; P=0.27). This could be partly explained by individuals with comorbidities vaccinated with their first dose who increased their contacts to the level of those without comorbidities. Conclusions: The lower level of contacts maintained by individuals with comorbidities could have influenced the burden of hospitalisations and deaths of the second wave in Quebec. It will be important to closely monitor COVID-19-related outcomes and social contacts by comorbidity and vaccination status to inform targeted or population-based interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time trends in social contacts of individuals according to comorbidity and vaccination status, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Godbout

Drolet

Mondor

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Lastly, we neglected in our analysis the longitudinal nature of the data. While this would allow us to take into account heterogeneity at the individual level (see for example [26]) it would require considering additional effects (e.g. the fatigue associated with repeated surveys) that are not fully understood [27,28] and we, therefore, leave this for future research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of tiered measures on social contact and mixing patterns in Italy during the second wave of COVID-19

Tizzani

Gaetano

Jarvis

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected social contact patterns worldwide. Particularly during the first epidemic wave, because of the lack of specific treatment or vaccine, most countries around the world enforced non-pharmaceutical interventions. Italy was one of the first countries to be strongly affected by the pandemic, imposing in the first epidemic wave a hard lockdown. During the second wave, the country implemented color-coded, progressively restrictive tiers at the regional level according to weekly epidemiological risk assessments. Methods: We analyze longitudinal surveys of a representative sample of the Italian population by age, gender, and region of residence, collected during the second epidemic wave. After presenting a statistical description of the sample, we compare variations in contact patterns according to a color-coded tier of interventions experienced by the participants. In particular, we use contact matrices to quantify the reduction in the number of contacts by age group and contact settings, focusing on the adult population. We also compare the results with the pre-pandemic baseline assessing the impact of tiered restrictions on contacts. Finally, we compute the reproduction number to evaluate the impact of the restrictions on the spreading of the disease.Results: The comparison with the pre-pandemic baseline, shows a significant decrease in the number of contacts, independently from the age group or contact settings. Moreover, we show that the decrease in the number of contacts significantly depends on the strictness of the non-pharmaceutical interventions. For all levels of strictness considered, the reduction in social mixing results in a reproduction number smaller than one. In particular, the impact of the restriction on the number of contacts decreases with the severity of the interventions. Conclusions: We showed that the progressive restriction tiers implemented in Italy reduced overall the reproduction number, with stricter interventions associated with higher reductions. Readily collected contact data can promptly inform the implementation of mitigation measures at the national level in epidemic emergencies to come.

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“…Our findings suggest that the contact data collected in the CoMix survey describe trends in contact behaviour in the general population. As such it can be useful in monitoring the effect of control measures that are aimed at contact reduction 17,25,26 , describe determinants for contact behaviour 27,28 , or serve as input for infectious disease models 29–31 . These results can help guide policy in future waves of COVID-19 or other emerging respiratory diseases by monitoring the interaction between contact behaviour, control measures and complicance, and emphasize that contact surveys such as the CoMix study are indispensable for providing a quantitative basis to public health policy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of non-household contacts during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 in the Netherlands

Backer

Bogaardt

Beutels

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The COVID-19 pandemic was in 2020 and 2021 for a large part mitigated by reducing contacts in the general population. To monitor how these contacts changed over the course of the pandemic in the Netherlands, a longitudinal survey was conducted where participants reported on their at-risk contacts every two weeks, as part of the European CoMix survey. The survey included 1659 participants from April to August 2020 and 2514 participants from December 2020 to September 2021.We categorized the number of unique contacted persons excluding household members, reported per participant per day into six activity levels, defined as 0, 1, 2, 3-4, 5-9 and 10 or more reported contacts. After correcting for age, vaccination status, risk status for severe outcome of infection, and frequency of participation, activity levels increased over time, coinciding with relaxation of COVID-19 control measures.

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The influence of risk perceptions on close contact frequency during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Cited by 6 publications

References 35 publications

Time trends in social contacts of individuals according to comorbidity and vaccination status, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Time trends in social contacts of individuals according to comorbidity and vaccination status, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Impact of tiered measures on social contact and mixing patterns in Italy during the second wave of COVID-19

Dynamics of non-household contacts during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 in the Netherlands

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