Background: The behavior of the general public will probably have an important bearing
on the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Human behavior
is influenced by people's knowledge and perceptions (1).
Objective: To assess knowledge and perceptions about COVID-19 among a convenience
sample of the general public in the United States and United Kingdom.
Methods and Findings: This study is a cross-sectional survey conducted on an online
platform managed by Prolific Academic Ltd. The platform's pool of participants numbers
approximately 80 000 individuals, of whom approximately 43% reside in the United Kingdom
and 33% in the United States (2). For this study, Prolific selected a convenience
sample of 3000 participants residing in the United States and 3000 participants residing
in the United Kingdom who were chosen to have approximately the same distribution
of age, sex, and ethnicity (and each combination thereof) as the U.S. and U.K. general
population (by using numbers from the last census in each country). Specifically,
Prolific established population strata (Table 1) with a predetermined number of open
slots into which eligible participants in the online pool could enroll on a first-come,
first-served
basis.
Table 1. Sample Characteristics
Participants, who had to have indicated that they were fluent in English, received
US$1.50 for completing the survey. They completed the online questionnaire between
23 February and 2 March 2020. The questionnaire (Supplement, available at Annals.org)
consisted of 22 questions on knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19, including specific
questions about “myths” or falsehoods listed on the World Health Organization's “myth
busters” Web site (3).
Supplement. Questionnaire
Click here for additional data file.
To summarize the survey findings, I dichotomized categorical variables and computed
the median and interquartile range for continuous variables. For binomial proportions,
I used a score interval (Wilson score interval without continuity correction [4])
to construct a 95% CI. No sampling weights were used given that this was not a probabilistic
sample.
In total, 2986 and 2988 adults residing in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively,
completed the questionnaire. Participants' sociodemographic characteristics are shown
in Table 1. Although participants generally had good knowledge of the main mode of
disease transmission and common symptoms, the survey identified several important
misconceptions on how to prevent acquisition of COVID-19, including beliefs in falsehoods
that have circulated on social media (Table 2). A substantial proportion of participants
also expressed an intent to discriminate against individuals of East Asian ethnicity
for fear of acquiring COVID-19. A more detailed analysis and visualization of all
survey responses are available (5).
Table 2. Summary of Survey Findings
Discussion: The findings of this study could be used to set priorities in information
campaigns on COVID-19 by public health authorities and the media. Such information
provision could, for instance, emphasize the comparatively low case-fatality rate,
the recommended care-seeking behavior, the low risk posed by individuals of East Asian
ethnicity living in the United States and United Kingdom, and that children appear
to be at a lower risk for a fatal disease course than adults. In addition, to ensure
that individuals focus their attention on those prevention measures that are most
effective, this study suggests that it will be important to inform the public about
the comparative effectiveness of common surgical masks versus frequent and thorough
handwashing and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.
This study has several limitations. First and foremost, given that participants had
to have both chosen to register with Prolific and to take the survey at the time it
was published, this convenience sample of adults is unlikely to be representative
of the general U.S. and U.K. population. The generalizability of the findings is,
therefore, limited. Second, it is possible that some participants may have randomly
selected responses to spend the least amount of time to earn the $1.50 reward. I believe
this is unlikely to be an important source of bias because only 2 participants (who
were excluded from the analysis) completed the survey in under 2 minutes (while it
was physically possible to complete it in well under 90 seconds), there was no bimodal
distribution in the time taken to complete the survey, and $1.50 is a relatively small
monetary incentive. Third, it is possible that participants looked up the answers
to some of the questions online before answering.
Participants were asked at the end of the survey (while being reassured that their
payment is not influenced by their response) for which, if any, questions they searched
for an answer online. These responses were set to missing in the analysis.
In conclusion, the general public in the United States and United Kingdom appears
to have important misconceptions about COVID-19. Correcting these misconceptions should
be targeted in information campaigns organized by government agencies, information
provision by clinicians to their patients, and media coverage.