Cargando…

Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020

Background: Transmission of COVID-19 in developing countries is expected to surpass that in developed countries; however, information on community perceptions of this new disease is scarce. The aim of the study was to identify possible misconceptions among males and females toward COVID-19 in Uganda...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kasozi, Keneth Iceland, MacLeod, Ewan, Ssempijja, Fred, Mahero, Michael W., Matama, Kevin, Musoke, Grace Henry, Bardosh, Kevin, Ssebuufu, Robinson, Wakoko-Studstil, Florence, Echoru, Isaac, Ayikobua, Emmanuel Tiyo, Mujinya, Regan, Nambuya, Grace, Onohuean, Hope, Zirintunda, Gerald, Ekou, Justine, Welburn, Susan Christina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7405654/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32850606
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00416
_version_ 1783567288941674496
author Kasozi, Keneth Iceland
MacLeod, Ewan
Ssempijja, Fred
Mahero, Michael W.
Matama, Kevin
Musoke, Grace Henry
Bardosh, Kevin
Ssebuufu, Robinson
Wakoko-Studstil, Florence
Echoru, Isaac
Ayikobua, Emmanuel Tiyo
Mujinya, Regan
Nambuya, Grace
Onohuean, Hope
Zirintunda, Gerald
Ekou, Justine
Welburn, Susan Christina
author_facet Kasozi, Keneth Iceland
MacLeod, Ewan
Ssempijja, Fred
Mahero, Michael W.
Matama, Kevin
Musoke, Grace Henry
Bardosh, Kevin
Ssebuufu, Robinson
Wakoko-Studstil, Florence
Echoru, Isaac
Ayikobua, Emmanuel Tiyo
Mujinya, Regan
Nambuya, Grace
Onohuean, Hope
Zirintunda, Gerald
Ekou, Justine
Welburn, Susan Christina
author_sort Kasozi, Keneth Iceland
collection PubMed
description Background: Transmission of COVID-19 in developing countries is expected to surpass that in developed countries; however, information on community perceptions of this new disease is scarce. The aim of the study was to identify possible misconceptions among males and females toward COVID-19 in Uganda using a rapid online survey distributed via social media. Methods: A cross-sectional survey carried out in early April 2020 was conducted with 161 Ugandans, who purposively participated in the online questionnaire that assessed understandings of COVID-19 risk and infection. Sixty-four percent of respondents were male and 36% were female. Results: We found significant divergences of opinion on gendered susceptibility to COVID-19. Most female respondents considered infection risk, symptoms, severe signs, and death to be equally distributed between genders. In contrast, male respondents believed they were more at risk of infection, severe symptoms, severe signs, and death (52.7 vs. 30.6%, RR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.14–2.8). Most women did not share this perception and disagreed that males were at higher risk of infection (by a factor of three), symptoms (79% disagree), severe signs (71%, disagree), and death (70.2% disagree). Overall, most respondents considered children less vulnerable (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.55–2.2) to COVID-19 than adults, that children present with less symptoms (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 0.77–3.19), and that there would be less mortality in children (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.41–1.88). Of female respondents, 76.4% considered mortality from COVID-19 to be different between the young and the elderly (RR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.01–2.92) and 92.7% believed young adults would show fewer signs than the elderly, and 71.4% agreed that elderly COVID-19 patients would show more severe signs than the young (OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4, 4.8). While respondents considered that all races were susceptible to the signs and symptoms of infection as well as death from COVID-19, they considered mortality would be highest among white people from Europe and the USA. Some respondents (mostly male 33/102, 32.4%) considered COVID-19 to be a “disease of whites” (30.2%). Conclusion: The WHO has identified women and children in rural communities as vulnerable persons who should be given more attention in the COVID-19 national response programs across Africa; however, our study has found that men in Uganda perceive themselves to be at greater risk and that these contradictory perceptions (including the association of COVID-19 with “the white” race) suggest an important discrepancy in the communication of who is most vulnerable and why. Further research is urgently needed to validate and expand the results of this small exploratory study.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7405654
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-74056542020-08-25 Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020 Kasozi, Keneth Iceland MacLeod, Ewan Ssempijja, Fred Mahero, Michael W. Matama, Kevin Musoke, Grace Henry Bardosh, Kevin Ssebuufu, Robinson Wakoko-Studstil, Florence Echoru, Isaac Ayikobua, Emmanuel Tiyo Mujinya, Regan Nambuya, Grace Onohuean, Hope Zirintunda, Gerald Ekou, Justine Welburn, Susan Christina Front Public Health Public Health Background: Transmission of COVID-19 in developing countries is expected to surpass that in developed countries; however, information on community perceptions of this new disease is scarce. The aim of the study was to identify possible misconceptions among males and females toward COVID-19 in Uganda using a rapid online survey distributed via social media. Methods: A cross-sectional survey carried out in early April 2020 was conducted with 161 Ugandans, who purposively participated in the online questionnaire that assessed understandings of COVID-19 risk and infection. Sixty-four percent of respondents were male and 36% were female. Results: We found significant divergences of opinion on gendered susceptibility to COVID-19. Most female respondents considered infection risk, symptoms, severe signs, and death to be equally distributed between genders. In contrast, male respondents believed they were more at risk of infection, severe symptoms, severe signs, and death (52.7 vs. 30.6%, RR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.14–2.8). Most women did not share this perception and disagreed that males were at higher risk of infection (by a factor of three), symptoms (79% disagree), severe signs (71%, disagree), and death (70.2% disagree). Overall, most respondents considered children less vulnerable (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.55–2.2) to COVID-19 than adults, that children present with less symptoms (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 0.77–3.19), and that there would be less mortality in children (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.41–1.88). Of female respondents, 76.4% considered mortality from COVID-19 to be different between the young and the elderly (RR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.01–2.92) and 92.7% believed young adults would show fewer signs than the elderly, and 71.4% agreed that elderly COVID-19 patients would show more severe signs than the young (OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4, 4.8). While respondents considered that all races were susceptible to the signs and symptoms of infection as well as death from COVID-19, they considered mortality would be highest among white people from Europe and the USA. Some respondents (mostly male 33/102, 32.4%) considered COVID-19 to be a “disease of whites” (30.2%). Conclusion: The WHO has identified women and children in rural communities as vulnerable persons who should be given more attention in the COVID-19 national response programs across Africa; however, our study has found that men in Uganda perceive themselves to be at greater risk and that these contradictory perceptions (including the association of COVID-19 with “the white” race) suggest an important discrepancy in the communication of who is most vulnerable and why. Further research is urgently needed to validate and expand the results of this small exploratory study. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-07-28 /pmc/articles/PMC7405654/ /pubmed/32850606 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00416 Text en Copyright © 2020 Kasozi, MacLeod, Ssempijja, Mahero, Matama, Musoke, Bardosh, Ssebuufu, Wakoko-Studstil, Echoru, Ayikobua, Mujinya, Nambuya, Onohuean, Zirintunda, Ekou and Welburn. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Kasozi, Keneth Iceland
MacLeod, Ewan
Ssempijja, Fred
Mahero, Michael W.
Matama, Kevin
Musoke, Grace Henry
Bardosh, Kevin
Ssebuufu, Robinson
Wakoko-Studstil, Florence
Echoru, Isaac
Ayikobua, Emmanuel Tiyo
Mujinya, Regan
Nambuya, Grace
Onohuean, Hope
Zirintunda, Gerald
Ekou, Justine
Welburn, Susan Christina
Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020
title Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020
title_full Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020
title_fullStr Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020
title_full_unstemmed Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020
title_short Misconceptions on COVID-19 Risk Among Ugandan Men: Results From a Rapid Exploratory Survey, April 2020
title_sort misconceptions on covid-19 risk among ugandan men: results from a rapid exploratory survey, april 2020
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7405654/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32850606
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00416
work_keys_str_mv AT kasozikenethiceland misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT macleodewan misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT ssempijjafred misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT maheromichaelw misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT matamakevin misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT musokegracehenry misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT bardoshkevin misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT ssebuufurobinson misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT wakokostudstilflorence misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT echoruisaac misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT ayikobuaemmanueltiyo misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT mujinyaregan misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT nambuyagrace misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT onohueanhope misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT zirintundagerald misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT ekoujustine misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020
AT welburnsusanchristina misconceptionsoncovid19riskamongugandanmenresultsfromarapidexploratorysurveyapril2020