Association of Fear of COVID-19 and Health Literacy Among the General Public in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Assessment

Autor: Mahaman L. Moussa, Fatchima Laouali Moussa, Homood A. Alharbi, Tagwa Omer, Hussain Ahmad Sofiany, Tarraji Mohammed Almuzaini, Eissa Salem Alsaady, Sattam Musleh Alrashede
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Public Health, Vol 9 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2296-2565
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.740625
Popis: ObjectiveThis study aims to determine the level of fear of coronavirus disease—2019 (COVID-19) among the general public in Saudi Arabia and the association of its scores with their level of health literacy.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the general population in Saudi Arabia from April 2020 to May 2020. A three-part online self-reported survey was used to assess the participants' demographic characteristics, fear of COVID-19 of the participants, and levels of health literacy.ResultsOf the 848 participants, 56.8% were in the age group of 25–34, 45.6% were females, and 57.1% had a bachelor's degree. The total mean score of the fear of COVID-19 scale of the participants was FCoV-19: mean ± SD = 19.60 ± 7.33 and the health literacy was HL index: mean ± SD = 27.57 ± 11.05. There was a significant difference in the scores of fear of COVID-19 scale in terms of age (F = 2.442, p = 0.050), representing that those aged 45 and above had higher mean fear scores than the younger participants. The analysis revealed that an increased level of fear of COVID-19 was associated with older age (B = 1.87; p = 0.020), being unemployed (B = 0.76; p = 0.023), with no formal education (B = 0.89; p = 0.001), and low level of health literacy (B = 0.02; p = 0.021).ConclusionThe study shows an above-average level of fear of COVID-19 of the general public in Saudi Arabia and its association with a low level of functional health literacy. Timely and comprehensive health interventions should be promoted to enhance the level of health literacy and further reduce the level of fear of COVID-19 in the community.
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