Perception towards vaccine effectiveness in controlling COVID-19 spread in rural and urban communities: A global survey

Introduction Several studies exhibited varying reports of perception toward vaccine effectiveness, vaccine hesitancy, and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. As this fluctuated with evidence generation, this study explored the perception toward vaccine effectiveness in rural and urban communities among various countries. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted online from April to August 2021 using convenience sampling among people from different countries approved by the Asia Metropolitan University Medical Research and Ethics. We adapted the questionnaire from the World Health Organization's (WHO) survey tool and guidance on COVID-19. The logistic regression models were performed to show perception toward vaccine effectiveness. Results A total of 5,673 participants responded to the online survey. Overall, 64% of participants agreed that the vaccine effectively controlled viral spread, and 23% agreed that there was no need for vaccination if others were vaccinated. Males had 14% higher odds of believing that there was no need for vaccination. Less social media users had 39% higher odds of developing the belief that there is no need for vaccination than all other people vaccinated. Conclusion People's perceptions toward vaccine acceptance have fluctuated with the information flow in various social media and the severity of COVID-19 cases. Therefore, it is important that the current scenario of peoples' perception toward vaccine acceptance and determinants affecting the acceptance are explored to promote the vaccination approach against COVID-19 prevention and transmission effectively.

Adapted digital health literacy and health information seeking behavior among lower income groups in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background Misinformation has had a negative impact upon the global COVID-19 vaccination program. High-income and middle-income earners typically have better access to technology and health facilities than those in lower-income groups. This creates a rich-poor divide in Digital Health Literacy (DHL), where low-income earners have low DHL resulting in higher COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the impact of health information seeking behavior on digital health literacy related to COVID-19 among low-income earners in Selangor, Malaysia. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted conveniently among 381 individuals from the low-income group in Selangor, Malaysia. The remote data collection (RDC) method was used to gather data. Validated interviewer-rated questionnaires were used to collect data via phone call. Respondents included in the study were 18 years and older. A normality of numerical variables were assessed using Shapiro-Wilk test. Univariate analysis of all variables was performed, and results were presented as means, mean ranks, frequencies, and percentages. Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal Wallis H test was applied for the comparison of DHL and health information seeking behavior with characteristics of the participants. Multivariate linear regression models were applied using DHL as dependent variable and health information seeking behavior as independent factors, adjusting for age, gender, marital status, educational status, employment status, and household income. Results The mean age of the study participants was 38.16 ± 14.40 years ranging from 18 to 84 years. The vast majority (94.6%) of participants stated that information seeking regarding COVID-19 was easy or very easy. Around 7 percent of the respondents cited reading information about COVID-19 on the internet as very difficult. The higher mean rank of DHL search, content, reliability, relevance, and privacy was found among participants who were widowed, had primary education, or unemployed. An inverse relationship was found between overall DHL and confidence in the accuracy of the information on the internet regarding COVID-19 (β = −2.01, 95% CI = −2.22 to −1.79). Conclusion It is important to provide support to lower-income demographics to assist access to high-quality health information, including less educated, unemployed, and widowed populations. This can improve overall DHL.

Perceived barriers to facemask adherence in the covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan-A cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: To explore perceived barriers associated with facemask adherence to prevent spread of COVID-19 spread in Pakistani population. METHODOLOGY: A cross sectional study was conducted from 25-July 2020 to 5-August 2020. Participants of both genders of age >17 years, currently residing in Pakistan, who had access to internet and understood English were included in the survey. The survey was designed on Google form and was distributed digitally across different areas of Pakistan via social media. Survey included questions regarding socio-demographics, facemask adherence and perceived barriers related to facemask adherence such as perceived risks, health concerns, comfort, social influences, religious/cultural norms and social protocols and health recommendations. SPSS version 23 was used to analyze data. Independent t-test/One-way ANOVA was applied to assess significant difference between perceived barriers to wear face mask and socio-demographic factors, p-value ≤0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Post-hoc LSD test was also applied where applicable. RESULTS: Only 20% of the participants reported non-adherence to facemask. Amongst these participants, majority agreed that comfort was the main barrier precluding them from wearing a mask, 89.4% subjects saying that it was too hot to wear it and 84.1% saying that a mask was too uncomfortable to wear. Whereas, 82.1% highly agreed that difficulty in breathing is perceived barrier related to facemask usage. Statistically significant difference was found between health concerns with gender (p = 0.031), locality (p = 0.001) and religion (p = 0.03); comfort with locality (p = 0.007); social influences with gender (p = 0.001), ethnicity (p = 0.001) and locality (p = 0.017); cultural/religious norms with religion (p = 0.001) and social protocols and health recommendations with age (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Despite of satisfactory facemask adherence, still there are perceived barriers to it. In order to increase utilization of face masks among the general population, strict health policies should be implemented and awareness regarding the importance of face masks should be enhanced by educational interventions.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Toward Coronavirus Disease (COVID- 19) in Southeast and South Asia: A Mixed Study Design Approach.

Background: Coronavirus has spread to almost every country since its emergence in Wuhan, China and countries have been adopted an array of measures to control the rapid spread of the epidemic. Here, we aimed to assess the person's knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward the COVID-19 epidemic in Southeast and South Asia applying the mixed study design (cross-sectional and systematic review). Methods: In the cross-sectional study, 743 respondents' socio-demographic and KAP-related information was collected through an online population-based survey from the Malaysian population. In the systematic review, the database PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar search engine were searched and related published articles from South and Southeast Asia were included. Frequency distribution, Chi-square association test and binary logistic regression were fitted using cross-sectional data whereas random effect model and study bias were performed in meta-analysis. We used 95% confidence interval and P <0.05 as statistical significances. Results: The prevalence of good knowledge, positive attitude and frequent practice toward COVID-19 epidemic were 52.6%, 51.8% and 57.1%, respectively, obtained by cross-sectional data analysis. The KAP prevalence were ranged from 26.53% (Thailand) to 95.4% (Nepal); 59.3% (Turkey) to 92.5% (Pakistan); and 50.2 (Turkey) to 97% (Afghanistan), respectively, obtained by 18 studies included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of KAP was higher [84% vs. 79%, Pheterogeneity <0.001; 83% vs. 80%, Pheterogeneity <0.001; 85% vs. 83%, Pheterogeneity <0.001] in South Asia compared to Southeast Asia, obtained by subgroup analysis. Some studies reported mean level instead of the proportion of the KAP where the score varied from 8.15-13.14; 2.33-33.0; and 1.97-31.03, respectively. Having more knowledge and attitude were encouraged more likely to practice toward COVID-19. Study suggests age, gender, education, place of residence and occupation as the most frequent significant risk factors of KAP toward COVID-19. Conclusion: The study sufficiently informs how other countries in Southeast and South Asia enriches their KAP behaviors during the pandemic which may help health professionals and policymakers to develop targeted interventions and effective practices.

Predictive modeling of COVID-19 death cases in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: The world is presently facing the challenges posed by COVID-19 (2019-nCoV), especially in the public health sector, and these challenges are dangerous to both health and life. The disease results in an acute respiratory infection that may result in pain and death. In Pakistan, the disease curve shows a vertical trend by almost 256K established cases of the diseases and 6035 documented death cases till August 5, 2020. OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this study is to provide the statistical model to predict the trend of COVID-19 death cases in Pakistan. The age and gender of COVID-19 victims were represented using a descriptive study. METHOD: ology: Three regression models, which include Linear, logarithmic, and quadratic, were employed in this study for the modelling of COVID-19 death cases in Pakistan. These three models were compared based on R2, Adjusted R2, AIC, and BIC criterions. The data utilized for the modelling was obtained from the National Institute of Health of Pakistan from February 26, 2020 to August 5, 2020. CONCLUSION: The finding deduced after the prediction modelling is that the rate of mortality would decrease by the end of October. The total number of deaths will reach its maximum point; then, it will gradually decrease. This indicates that the curve of total deaths will continue to be flat, i.e., it will shift to be constant, which is also the upper bound of the underlying function of absolute death.

Progress of COVID-19 Epidemic in Pakistan

The outbreak of corona virus initiated as pneumonia of unknown cause in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, which has been now spreading rapidly out of Wuhan to other countries. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus outbreak as the sixth public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), and on March 11, 2020, the WHO announced coronavirus as pandemic. Coronavirus is thought to be increasing in Pakistan. The first case of coronavirus was reported from Karachi on February 26, 2020, with estimated populace of Pakistan as 204.65 million. Successively, the virus spreads into various regions nationwide and has currently become an epidemic. The WHO has warned Pakistan that the country could encounter great challenge against the outbreak of coronavirus in the coming days. This short communication is conducted to shed light on the epidemic of coronavirus in the country. It would aid in emphasizing the up-to-date situation in a nutshell and the measures taken by the health sector of Pakistan to abate the risk of communication.