Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: questionnaire development and validation.

OBJECTIVES: Vaccine hesitancy presents one of the critical constraints in combating COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument for measuring factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. METHODS: The key constructs in the study instrument were factors that constitute the "3C" model of vaccine hesitancy: Confidence, Complacency and Convenience. Using a cross-sectional, online survey design, the 8-item COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 667 adult citizens of Serbia in December 2020. We used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the model that assumes three latent variables. To ensure that the instrument measures the same constructs in different groups, the measurement invariance examination was conducted. To examine criterion validity, Spearman's correlation was applied to determine the association between the instrument total score and the single-item measuring the likelihood of getting vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis established the three-factor structure, with subscales fitting within the "3C" model of vaccine hesitancy comprising confidence, convenience and complacency. The full scalar invariance was found across gender, and the partial scalar invariance was achieved for the age, region and education level. A higher level of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was associated with the lower likelihood to get vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. CONCLUSION: Our scale is brief and consistent, maintaining a good fit across key socio-demographic subgroups. This result implies that the scale could be useful for quick assessment of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in various target populations.

Factors Associated with PA Level during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Serbia.

OBJECTIVE: The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has had an influence on almost the entire world and has become a major public health problem. Many countries have introduced measures that restrict the movement of the population and that may negatively influence the physical activity (PA) levels. The aim of this study was to examine the factors associated with changes in PA in Serbia during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted from the 9th through the 13th of April 2020. A total of 340 people, all contacted using Viber, were invited to participate in the study. The study instrument was a questionnaire that gathered information regarding social characteristics, PA during the outbreak, PA before the outbreak, and fear of COVID-19. RESULTS: A total of 50 participants (14.7%) had low levels of PA in the 7 days prior to the study, while 133 (39.1%) had moderate and 106 (31.2%) had high levels of PA. The participants with high levels of PA had significantly higher energy expenditures before than after the COVID-19 outbreak (P < .001). There were no significant differences between the participants with different levels of PA in the scores on the Fear of COVID-19 scale (low: 13.4 ± 5.2; moderate: 12.6 ± 4.4; high: 13.8 ± 5.5; P = .204). CONCLUSION: One-sixth of the participants had low PA levels, and as restrictive measures are still in place in many countries, the lack of PA in high proportions of the general population may cause significant public health concerns.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices and fear of COVID-19 among medical students in Serbia.

INTRODUCTION: The outbreak of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 named COVID-19 has spread throughout the world. The number of registered cases is increasing and almost no country or territory worldwide has been without any COVID-19 patient. The aim of this study was to examine the level of knowledge on the SARS-COv-2 and COVID-19 among medical students and to explore the differences in attitudes, practices and fear of COVID-19 among students with sufficient and students with insufficient knowledge. METHODOLOGY: The cross-sectional study among the 1,722 medical students was conducted through an online platform of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. The instrument used was a questionnaire with sections on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 and the Fear of COVID-19 scale. RESULTS: Total of 1576 (91.50%) students were in the sufficient knowledge group. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significant association between the sufficient knowledge on COVID-19 and female sex (OR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.18-2.45), age (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02-1.18), considering the preventive measures enforced in Serbia as good (OR = 2.57, 95% CI = 1.18-5.56), wearing the surgical mask outside of the household in the past 14 days (OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.22-2.87) and score on Fear of COVID-19 scale (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.91-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: Medical students showed good knowledge of COVID-19 and could be a part of the promotion of health education messages as a part of preventive measures.