A survey of patient and public perceptions and awareness of SARS-CoV-2-related risks among participants in India and South Africa.

Abstract

A cross-sectional survey among participants in India and South Africa to explore perceptions and awareness of SARS-CoV-2-related risks. Main outcome measures-proportion of participants aware of SARS-CoV-2, and their perception of infection risks as it related to their views and perceptions on vaccination, i.e., using COVID-19 vaccine uptake as proxy for awareness level. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data via web- and paper-based surveys over three months. Pearson's Chi-squared test assessed relationships between variables; a p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. There were 844 respondents (India: n = 660, South Africa: n = 184; response rate 87.6%), with a 61.1% vs 38.3% female to male ratio. Post-high-school or university education was the lowest qualification reported by most respondents in India (77.3%) and South Africa (79.3%). Sources of pandemic information were usually media and journal publications (73.2%), social media (64.6%), family and friends (47.7%) and government websites (46.2%). Most respondents correctly identified infection prevention measures (such as physical distancing, mask use), with 90.0% reporting improved hand hygiene practices since the pandemic. Hesitancy or refusal to accept the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was reported among 17.9% and 50.9% of respondents in India and South Africa, respectively; reasons cited included rushed vaccine development and the futility of vaccines for what respondents considered a self-limiting flu-like illness. In South Africa, vaccine acceptance was associated with improved hand hygiene practices since the pandemic and flu vaccination in the preceding year. No relationship was noted between awareness and practice of infection prevention measures (such as hand hygiene) and socio-demographic factors such as employment status or availability of amenities. Pandemic response and infection prevention and control measures through vaccination campaigns should consider robust public engagement and contextually-fit communication strategies with multimodal, participatory online and offline initiatives to address public concerns, specifically towards vaccines developed for this pandemic and general vaccine hesitancy.

• Authors: Oluchi Mbamalu, Surya Surendran, Vrinda Nampoothiri, Candice Bonaconsa, Fabia Edathadathil, Nina Zhu, Vanessa Carter, Helen Lambert, Carolyn Tarrant, Raheelah Ahmad, Adrian Brink, Ebrahim Steenkamp, Alison Holmes, Sanjeev Singh, Esmita Charani, Marc Mendelson
• Journal: PLOS global public health (PLOS Glob Public Health) Vol. 3 Issue 7 Pg. e0001078 ( 2023) ISSN: 2767-3375 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 37428718 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright: © 2023 Mbamalu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.