Sociodemographic Predictors of Health Risk Perception, Attitude and Behavior Practices Associated with Health-Emergency Disaster Risk Management for Biological Hazards: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong, SAR China

Abstract

In addition to top-down Health-Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM) efforts, bottom-up individual and household measures are crucial for prevention and emergency response of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). There is limited scientific evidence of the knowledge, perception, attitude and behavior patterns of the urban population. A computerized randomized digital dialing, cross-sectional, population landline-based telephone survey was conducted from 22 March to 1 April 2020 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Data were collected for socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and risk perception, and various self-reported Health-EDRM behavior patterns associated with COVID-19. The final study sample was 765. Although the respondents thought that individuals (68.6%) had similar responsibilities as government (67.5%) in infection control, less than 50% had sufficient health risk management knowledge to safeguard health and well-being. Among the examined Health-EDRM measures, significant differences were found between attitude and practice in regards to washing hands with soap, ordering takeaways, wearing masks, avoidance of visiting public places or using public transport, and travel avoidance to COVID-19-confirmed regions. Logistic regression indicated that the elderly were less likely to worry about infection with COVID-19. Compared to personal and household hygiene practices, lower compliance was found for public social distancing.

What Happened to People with Non-Communicable Diseases during COVID-19: Implications of H-EDRM Policies

“…Stratified sampling was used to ensure that the dataset was representative of the Hong Kong general population in terms of age group, gender, and district of residence. Details of the methodology were reported in our previous study [9], which investigated the perception, attitude and preparation for the COVID-19 epidemic among the Hong Kong population. Data were collected in Hong Kong, a southern metropolis in China, and the health services delivery was in an urban setting.…”

“…Households reporting at least one member with an NCD were asked if they had at least one week's supply of NCD medications at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, they were further asked whether the COVID-19 pandemic had caused difficulty to their usual NCD care and the nature of these difficulties [9].…”

Risk Perceptions and Psychological Effects During the Italian COVID-19 Emergency

“…Based on the most recent and ongoing studies on COVID-19, the pandemic has resulted in severely deleterious global outcomes: huge psychological strain (Mazza et al, 2020), traumatic impact from protracted social isolation and distance, shocking working aftermaths in terms of job loss and job search (Crayne, 2020), unemployment crisis (Blustein et al, 2020), economic crash across industries and countries (Fernandes, 2020). In their study, Chan et al (2020) assessed risk perception of Health-Emergency Disaster Risk Management practices associated with COVID-19 in terms of perceived severity and infectivity, perceived knowledge to manage COVID-19, and perceived physical, mental, social, financial and global impact. All this empirical evidence about the COVID-19 emergency's effects on different areas of people's daily lives has led us to investigate the individual's fear and concern for working, economy, interpersonal and psychological impact.…”

Relationships between Physical and Social Behavioural Changes and the Mental Status of Homebound Residents in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…A higher score represents a greater level of depressive symptoms. Participants were classified into five different groups based on the severity of depressive symptoms: (i) having minimal or no depressive symptoms (0-4); (ii) mild (5-9); (iii) moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14); (iv) moderately severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19); and (v) severe depressive symptoms (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). Typically, participants with scores of 10 and above would be advised to seek medical attention.…”

“…Recent studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial increase in depression, anxiety, and mild stress. Additionally, people with a higher education level experienced more stress [13][14][15][16][17]. The uncertainty around the COVID-19 outbreak and the sudden change in studying and working environments could lead to the development of negative emotions such as anxiety, which can adversely influence individual mental health status.…”