JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The period of the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States made people uncertain about their perception of the threat from COVID-19 and the response measures. To mount an effective response to this epidemic, it is necessary to understand the public's perceptions, behaviors and attitudes.

Objective:

To test hypotheses that the perception of a threat from COVID-19 influences attitudes and behaviors.

Methods:

This study used an open dataset of online questionnaires about COVID-19 provided by Nexoid, and selected the results of a questionnaire on behaviors, attitudes and perceptions related to COVID-19 among the US public from March 29 to April 20, 2020. In the end, a total of 466497 people living in the United States took part in the survey.

Results:

The average self-assessed probability of contracting COVID-19 in this study was 36.48%, and 43.5% of the respondents thought their chance of getting COVID-19 was less than 30%. The predicted mean self-assessed probability of contracting COVID-19 among males was 96.97% lower than that among females. Furthermore, compared with those who had close contact with less than 10 people, those who were in close contact with more than 10 people had a 67019.89% higher predicted mean self-assessed probability of contracting COVID-19 (b=6.51, P<0.001). Those who were engaged in critical work (b=7.90, P<0.001) had a mean self-assessed probability of contracting COVID-19 that was 270653.14% higher than that of those who worked at home. The odds of reporting disagreement with taking measures to reduce their personal risk were 14%, 17% and 29% lower for participants from states reporting 10001 to 20000 cases (OR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.79-0.94), 20001 to 40000 cases (OR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.75-0.91) and over 40001 COVID-19 cases (OR=0.71, 95% CI: 0.59-0.84), respectively, compared to those living in states with 1001 to 5000 cases.

Conclusions:

This survey is the first attempt to describe on a large scale the determinants of the US public's perception of the threat from COVID-19. The self-assessed probability of contracting COVID-19 differed significantly based on the respondents’ gender, state of residence, age, BMI, smoking habit, alcohol consumption, drug use, disease, environment and behaviors. These findings have certain value as a reference for public health policy makers and healthcare workers seeking to identify target populations for COVID-19 prevention and health education.