Societal Criticism towards COVID-19: Assessing the Theory of Self-Diagnosis Contrasted to Medical Diagnosis.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a pandemic introducing the mass autodiagnosis via rapid antigen testing methods, and self-tests were important for several populaces, yet with several neglected issues. In addition, hospital diagnosis was a target of many people or media, as the various COVID-19 clinical phenotypes trammel the precise emergency physicians' response. METHODS: A web-based questionnaire was disseminated through social media in the first half of August 2021 in the Greek populace, assessing the societal criticism for autodiagnosis and medical diagnosis and their issues, just before the occurrence of the fourth pandemic wave in the country. RESULTS: Two thirds of the responders characterized self-tests as unreliable and two fifths reported them dangerous. Reliability (OR 1.335; CI 0.060-0.300; p = 0.000) and danger (OR 5.068; CI 3139-8184; p = 0.000) were significant predictors for the population-based sample's volition for a self-test. Reversely, regarding medical diagnosis, half of the responders reported the lack of reliability and effectiveness in the emergency departments, which had a significant impact on willingness to visit a hospital if needed (OR 3.207; CI 1987-5182; p = 0.000 and OR 3.506; CI 2167-5670; p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The importance of community-based questionnaires is highlighted for assessing people's criticism and improving the highlighted points in several topics.