Perceived risk of infection and death from COVID-19 among community members of low- and middle-income countries: A cross-sectional study

Mahir Gachabayov; Khan Sharun; Daniel M Felsenreich; Firzan Nainu; Samsul Anwar; Amanda Yufika; Youdiil Ophinni; Chika Yamada; Marhami Fahriani; Milda Husnah; Rawan Raad; Namareg Me Khiri; Rashed Ya Abdalla; Rashed Y Adam; Mohajer Ih Ismaeil; Asma Y Ismail; Wajdi Kacem; Zeineb Teyeb; Khaoula Aloui; Montacer Hafsi; Manel Ferjani; Nasrine Ben Hadj Dahman; Dalia A Deeb; Dina Emad; Kirellos Said Abbas; Fatma A Monib; Farah S Sami; Subramaniam Ramanarayanan; Suhrud Panchawagh; Sunil Anandu; Md Ariful Haque; Lirane Ed Ferreto; María Fc Briones; Rocío Bi Morales; Sebastián Lazcano-Díaz; José To Aburto; Jorge Et Rojas; Emmanuel O Balogun; Hendrix I Kusuma; Cut Meurah Yeni; Niken Asri Utami; Seyi S Enitan; Akele R Yomi; Abiodun Durosinmi; Esther N Adejumo; Eyiuche D Ezigbo; Elham Babadi; Edris Kakemam; Irfan Ullah; Najma I Malik; Francesco Rosiello; Talha B Emran; Eva Imelda; Guilherme W Wendt; Morteza Arab-Zozani; Kuldeep Dhama; Mudatsir Mudatsir; Harapan Harapan

doi:10.12688/f1000research.109575.2

Perceived risk of infection and death from COVID-19 among community members of low- and middle-income countries: A cross-sectional study

F1000Res. 2022 Mar 22:11:345. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.109575.2. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mahir Gachabayov¹, Khan Sharun², Daniel M Felsenreich³, Firzan Nainu⁴, Samsul Anwar⁵, Amanda Yufika⁶, Youdiil Ophinni^{7

8}, Chika Yamada⁹, Marhami Fahriani¹⁰, Milda Husnah^{10

11}, Rawan Raad¹², Namareg Me Khiri¹³, Rashed Ya Abdalla¹⁴, Rashed Y Adam¹⁵, Mohajer Ih Ismaeil¹⁶, Asma Y Ismail¹⁷, Wajdi Kacem¹⁸, Zeineb Teyeb¹⁹, Khaoula Aloui²⁰, Montacer Hafsi²⁰, Manel Ferjani²¹, Nasrine Ben Hadj Dahman²⁰, Dalia A Deeb²², Dina Emad²³, Kirellos Said Abbas²⁴, Fatma A Monib²⁵, Farah S Sami²³, Subramaniam Ramanarayanan²⁶, Suhrud Panchawagh²⁷, Sunil Anandu²⁸, Md Ariful Haque²⁹, Lirane Ed Ferreto³⁰, María Fc Briones³¹, Rocío Bi Morales³¹, Sebastián Lazcano-Díaz³¹, José To Aburto³¹, Jorge Et Rojas³¹, Emmanuel O Balogun³², Hendrix I Kusuma^{10

11

33}, Cut Meurah Yeni^{34

35}, Niken Asri Utami^{34

35}, Seyi S Enitan³⁶, Akele R Yomi³⁷, Abiodun Durosinmi³⁸, Esther N Adejumo³⁶, Eyiuche D Ezigbo³⁹, Elham Babadi⁴⁰, Edris Kakemam⁴¹, Irfan Ullah⁴², Najma I Malik⁴³, Francesco Rosiello⁴⁴, Talha B Emran⁴⁵, Eva Imelda⁴⁶, Guilherme W Wendt⁴⁷, Morteza Arab-Zozani⁴⁸, Kuldeep Dhama^{2

49}, Mudatsir Mudatsir^{10

50

51}, Harapan Harapan^{10

50

51

52}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Abdominal Surgery, Vladimir City Emergency Hospital, Vladimir, 600014, Russian Federation.
² Division of Surgery, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, 243122, India.
³ Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
⁴ Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, 90245, Indonesia.
⁵ Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
⁶ Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
⁷ Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, 02139, USA.
⁸ Laboratory of Host Defense, WPI Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0874, Japan.
⁹ Department of Environmental Coexistence, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8304, Japan.
¹⁰ Medical Research Unit, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
¹¹ Master Program of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Syiah Kuala, BAnda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
¹² Faculty of Medicine and General Surgery, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, 407, Sudan.
¹³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Omdurman, 11111, Sudan.
¹⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Bahri, Khartoum, 11111, Sudan.
¹⁵ Omdurman Teaching Hospital, Khartoum, 00000, Sudan.
¹⁶ Faculty of Medicine, Alzaiem Alazhari University, Khartoum, 13311, Sudan.
¹⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sudan International University, Khartoum, 12769, Sudan.
¹⁸ Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2074, Tunisia.
¹⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2074, Tunisia.
²⁰ Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2074, Tunisia.
²¹ Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Monastir, Monastir, 4180, Tunisia.
²² Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, El-sharkia, 44519, Egypt.
²³ Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Nasr City, Cairo, 1181, Egypt.
²⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21131, Egypt.
²⁵ Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, 71515, Egypt.
²⁶ Department of Public Health Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Nellikuzhi, Kothamangalam, Kerala, 686691, India.
²⁷ Department of General Medicine, Smt. KashibaiNavale Medical College and General Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra, 411041, India.
²⁸ Division of Veterinary Parasitology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, 243122, India.
²⁹ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yan'an Hospital Affiliated to Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650000, China.
³⁰ Department of Public Health and Postgraduate Program in Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Western Paraná State University, Francisco Beltrão, 85601-970, Brazil.
³¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of La Frontera, Temuco, 4781218, Chile.
³² Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, 2222, Nigeria.
³³ Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
³⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
³⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Zainoel Abidin Hospital, Banda Aceh, 24415, Indonesia.
³⁶ Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, 121103, Nigeria.
³⁷ Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, 360102, Nigeria.
³⁸ State Hospital, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, 120101, Nigeria.
³⁹ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences & Technology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, 40006, Nigeria.
⁴⁰ Research Fellow, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, 14604, USA.
⁴¹ Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, 516599001, Iran.
⁴² Department of Internal Medicine, Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, Peshawar, 25000, Pakistan.
⁴³ Department of Psychology, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, 40100, Pakistan.
⁴⁴ Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease, Sapienza-University of Rome, Rome, 00185, Italy.
⁴⁵ Department of Pharmacy, BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Chittagong, 4381, Bangladesh.
⁴⁶ Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
⁴⁷ Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Western Paraná State University, Francisco Beltrão, 85601-970, Brazil.
⁴⁸ Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, 97, Iran.
⁴⁹ Division of Pathology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute,, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, 243122, India.
⁵⁰ Tropical Disease Centre, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
⁵¹ Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia.
⁵² Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Centre, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 231111, Indonesia.

Abstract

Background: Risk perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are considered important as they impact community health behaviors. The aim of this study was to determine the perceived risk of infection and death due to COVID-19 and to assess the factors associated with such risk perceptions among community members in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa, Asia, and South America. Methods: An online cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 LMICs in Africa, Asia, and South America from February to May 2021. A questionnaire was utilized to assess the perceived risk of infection and death from COVID-19 and its plausible determinants. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with such risk perceptions. Results: A total of 1,646 responses were included in the analysis of the perceived risk of becoming infected and dying from COVID-19. Our data suggested that 36.4% of participants had a high perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, while only 22.4% had a perceived risk of dying from COVID-19. Being a woman, working in healthcare-related sectors, contracting pulmonary disease, knowing people in the immediate social environment who are or have been infected with COVID-19, as well as seeing or reading about individuals infected with COVID-19 on social media or TV were all associated with a higher perceived risk of becoming infected with COVID-19. In addition, being a woman, elderly, having heart disease and pulmonary disease, knowing people in the immediate social environment who are or have been infected with COVID-19, and seeing or reading about individuals infected with COVID-19 on social media or TV had a higher perceived risk of dying from COVID-19. Conclusions: The perceived risk of infection and death due to COVID-19 are relatively low among respondents; this suggests the need to conduct health campaigns to disseminate knowledge and information on the ongoing pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; determinants; online cross-sectional study; perceived risk; preventive measure.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Developing Countries
Female
Humans
Pandemics
Poverty

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.19128134
figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.19128332