tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
BMJ Open
. 2024 Oct 21;14(10):e088027.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088027. The changing nature of worry about COVID-19 among the English public: a secondary analysis of 73 national, cross-sectional surveys, January 2020 to April 2022
G James Rubin[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Louise E Smith[SUP] 3 2 4 [/SUP], Richard Amlôt[SUP] 2 4 [/SUP], Nicola T Fear[SUP] 1 5 [/SUP], Henry Ww Potts[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Susan Michie[SUP] 7 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Objectives: To investigate worry about COVID-19 during the pandemic, and whether worry was associated with phase of the pandemic, COVID-19 death and incidence rates, Government interventions (including lockdown and advertising), age, being clinically at-risk, ethnicity, thinking that the Government had put the right measures in place, perceived risk of COVID-19 to self and the UK, and perceived severity of COVID-19.
Design: Secondary analysis of a series of cross-sectional surveys.
Setting: 73 online surveys conducted for the English Department of Health and Social Care between 28 January 2020 and 13 April 2022.
Participants: Participants were people aged 16 years and over living in the UK (approximately 2000 per wave).
Primary outcome measures: Our primary outcome was self-reported worry about COVID-19.
Results: Rates of being 'extremely' or 'very' worried changed over time. Worry increased as infection rates increased and fell during lockdowns, but the association became less obvious over time. Respondents aged 60 years and over were less likely to be worried after the launch of the vaccination campaign, while those who were clinically at-risk or from a minoritised ethnic community were more likely to be worried. Higher worry was associated with higher perceived risk, and higher perceived severity of COVID-19. There was no evidence for an association with agreeing that the Government was putting the right measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The launch of graphic Government advertising campaigns about COVID-19 had no noticeable effect on levels of public worry.
Conclusions: In future infectious disease outbreaks, spikes in worry may attenuate over time, although some sections of society may experience higher anxiety than others.
Keywords: COVID-19; Health Surveys; PUBLIC HEALTH; Public health.
. 2024 Oct 21;14(10):e088027.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088027. The changing nature of worry about COVID-19 among the English public: a secondary analysis of 73 national, cross-sectional surveys, January 2020 to April 2022
G James Rubin[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Louise E Smith[SUP] 3 2 4 [/SUP], Richard Amlôt[SUP] 2 4 [/SUP], Nicola T Fear[SUP] 1 5 [/SUP], Henry Ww Potts[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Susan Michie[SUP] 7 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39433418
- DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088027
Objectives: To investigate worry about COVID-19 during the pandemic, and whether worry was associated with phase of the pandemic, COVID-19 death and incidence rates, Government interventions (including lockdown and advertising), age, being clinically at-risk, ethnicity, thinking that the Government had put the right measures in place, perceived risk of COVID-19 to self and the UK, and perceived severity of COVID-19.
Design: Secondary analysis of a series of cross-sectional surveys.
Setting: 73 online surveys conducted for the English Department of Health and Social Care between 28 January 2020 and 13 April 2022.
Participants: Participants were people aged 16 years and over living in the UK (approximately 2000 per wave).
Primary outcome measures: Our primary outcome was self-reported worry about COVID-19.
Results: Rates of being 'extremely' or 'very' worried changed over time. Worry increased as infection rates increased and fell during lockdowns, but the association became less obvious over time. Respondents aged 60 years and over were less likely to be worried after the launch of the vaccination campaign, while those who were clinically at-risk or from a minoritised ethnic community were more likely to be worried. Higher worry was associated with higher perceived risk, and higher perceived severity of COVID-19. There was no evidence for an association with agreeing that the Government was putting the right measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The launch of graphic Government advertising campaigns about COVID-19 had no noticeable effect on levels of public worry.
Conclusions: In future infectious disease outbreaks, spikes in worry may attenuate over time, although some sections of society may experience higher anxiety than others.
Keywords: COVID-19; Health Surveys; PUBLIC HEALTH; Public health.