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. 2021 Feb;104(2):235-241.
doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2020.11.002. Epub 2020 Nov 5.

What doubts, concerns and fears about COVID-19 emerged during the first wave of the pandemic?

Teresa Leão  1 , Mariana Amorim  2 , Sílvia Fraga  3 , Henrique Barros  4
Affiliations

What doubts, concerns and fears about COVID-19 emerged during the first wave of the pandemic?

Teresa Leão et al. Patient Educ Couns. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: The control of the COVID-19 pandemic depends strongly on effective communication, which must be grounded on the population's perceptions and knowledge. We aimed to analyse the doubts, concerns and fears expressed by the Portuguese population about COVID-19.

Methods: We performed a content analysis of 293 questions submitted to online, radio, newspaper and TV channel forums during the first month of the pandemic in Portugal.

Results: Most questions contained doubts (n = 230), especially on how to prevent person-to-person transmission (n = 40) and how to proceed in case of symptoms (n = 37). Concerns and fears were also very commonly expressed (n = 144), mostly about which persons could be considered vulnerable (n = 53) and how to prevent transmission during daily life or normal activities (n = 37).

Conclusion: As the pandemic evolved and suppression measures were put in place, doubts moved to concerns of vulnerability, quarantine and social isolation, and to doubts about transmission, transmission prevention, and on how to proceed in case of symptoms.

Practice implications: These results may inform future communication strategies for a more adequate response in the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as in future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health communication; Health literacy; Pandemics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors report no declarations of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of categories coded by time period: the figure shows the frequency each category was coded in each period (in clear shade the category with lowest frequency, in dark shade with the highest).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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