Adoption of Preventive Behaviour Strategies and Public Perceptions About COVID-19 in Singapore

Abstract

Background: The unprecedented severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) constitutes a serious public health concern. However, adoption of COVID-19-related preventive behaviours remain relatively unknown. This study investigated predictors of preventive behaviours. Methods: An analytical sample of 897 Singaporean adults who were quota sampled based on age, gender, and ethnicity were recruited through a web-enabled survey. Outcomes were adoption of, or increased frequency of preventive behaviours (avoiding social events; avoiding public transport; reducing time spent shopping and eating out; wearing a mask in public; avoiding hospitals/clinics; keeping children out of school, washing hands/using sanitisers; keeping surroundings clean; avoiding touching public surfaces; working from/studying at home). Public perceptions regarding COVID-19 (chances of getting COVID-19; perceived likelihood of COVID-19-related intensive care unit (ICU) admission; government trust; self-efficacy; perceived appropriateness of COVID-19 behaviours; response efficacy), anxiety, and demographic characteristics (age; ethnicity; marital status; education; chronic conditions; current living arrangements) were investigated as predictors of preventive behaviours adopted during COVID-19 in binomial and ordered logistic regressions. Results: Though adoption of preventive behaviours among Singaporeans varied, it was, overall, high, and consistent with government recommendations. Nearly a quarter reported moderate to severe anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder 7-item – GAD-7 scores). Respondents who perceived higher COVID-19 risks, had higher government trust, higher self-efficacy, and perceived that others acted appropriately reported increased adoption/frequency of preventive measures. The strongest indicator of behavioural change was response efficacy. Respondents who were older, highly educated, anxious and married reported higher adoption/frequency of preventive measures. Conclusion: To successfully influence appropriate preventive behaviours, public health messages should highlight response efficacy, increase self-efficacy, and promote trust in governmental response. Focus should be on demographic segments with low adoptions, such as younger individuals and those with low education.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Mental Health Symptoms during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Southeast Asia

“…In total, 25 studies including 32 different samples and 20,352 participants from Southeast Asia were incorporated in this meta-analysis [22-46]. Of these, 7 studies (28.1%) were of general populations [25,28,30,34,43,44,46], 10 studies included general HCWs (43.8%) [19,22,24,29,31-33,37,40,45], 5 studies included frontline HCWs (18.8%) [27,37-39,41], and only 3 studies (9.4%) referred to adult students [26,36,47]. Most studies were cross-sectional (96.0%) apart from one that was a longitudinal cohort study (4.0%) (Wong et al 2021).…”

“…In Singapore, the overall rates of preventative behaviours (e.g. avoiding public transport, social events and hospitals and reducing frequency/duration of shopping and eating out) were reportedly high [34], while another Singaporean study showed that the use of an official WhatsApp channel, providing information updates to the public, was protective against the development of depression [46]. According to Luo et al [53] the use of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and the access to up-to-date and accurate information were shown to shield from mental health problems.…”

Evaluation of COVID-19 Information Provided by Digital Voice Assistants

“…The long verbal responses by Alexa could be an advantage to special populations who could not read small fonts on smartphones [37], such as the elderly and those with poor eyesight. More importantly, this could be beneficial to users who choose not to touch easily avoidable surfaces in the current COVID-19 pandemic [38]. However, during our evaluations, Alexa seemed to perform poorly with regards to applicability, credibility, accuracy and comprehensiveness of information on COVID-19, despite it being used in various healthcare settings [4,39,40].…”

Avoidance of Healthcare Utilization in South Korea during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…A critical challenge is to determine how healthcare agencies should respond to changes in healthcare utilization and possible barriers to access healthcare facilities for the public created by the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, the lessons learned from the MERS experience in Korea [ 6 ] and other countries demonstrate the importance of understanding the community response [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. To our knowledge, no other study has evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on the demand of healthcare utilization among the general population.…”