Psychological Response & Perceived Risk Associated with Coronavirus Disease

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by WHO as it is found to be excessively transmissible & to spread throughout the world. The disease has caused a worldwide impact because of the need to establish worldwide activity by extensive social distancing and quarantine due to the daily rising death toll. Through this study, we examined intend to examine the psychological effects, perceptual vulnerability, and perceived stress developed among the general population.

Methodology: The study was conducted from 2nd March to 26th May 2020. A total of 2188 of subjects replied to our informal online survey internationally. The respondent's demographic details and data regarding precautionary measures, perceptual vulnerability, perceived stress, and level of susceptibility of COVID-19 was collected. The perceived stress scale (PSS-10) was used for assessment of perceived anxiety, stigmatization, and fear of developing COVID-19.

Results: As per the study findings, moderate perceived stress was observed among 66.6% of the respondents. Among the protective measures, washing hands was most frequent 56.2%, but the use of face mask wasn't widespread, i.e. 48.9% rarely or never used face masks. 37.1% felt anxious around sick people, 58.5% were usually bothered by the people sneezing without covering their mouths. 32.3% occasionally felt agitated because of no control over the current situation & 18.6% frequently felt stressed and/or nervous. The contact history revealed that 11.2% had close contact, 20.9% had a non-close contact, and 12.9% were those who had suspected connection with a confirmed case.

Conclusion: Evidently, COVID-19 has numerous psychological impacts, and the responses vary due to perceived vulnerability & stress. The social distancing, disease fear, and quarantine may have some negative effects which may have some lasting consequences on general population.