A national cross-sectional survey of public perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

IntroductionEfforts to mitigate the global spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have largely relied on broad compliance with public health recommendations yet navigating the high volume of evolving information and misinformation related to SARS-CoV-2 can be challenging. We assessed national public perceptions (e.g., severity, concerns, health), knowledge (e.g., transmission, information sources), and behaviors (e.g., physical distancing) related to COVID-19 in Canada to understand public perspectives and inform future public health initiatives. MethodsWe administered a national online survey with the goal of obtaining responses from 2000 adults residing in Canada. Respondent sampling was stratified by age, sex, and region. We used descriptive statistics to summarize respondent characteristics and tested for significant overall regional differences using chi-squared tests and t-tests, as appropriate. ResultsWe collected 1,996 eligible questionnaires between April 26th and May 1st, 2020. One-fifth (20%) of respondents knew someone diagnosed with COVID-19, but few had tested positive themselves (0.6%). Negative impacts of pandemic conditions were evidenced in several areas, including concerns about healthcare (e.g. sufficient equipment, 52%), pandemic stress (45%), and worsening social (49%) and mental/emotional (39%) health. Most respondents (88%) felt they had good to excellent knowledge of virus transmission, and predominantly accessed (74%) and trusted (60%) Canadian news television, newspapers/magazines, or non-government news websites for COVID-19 information. We found high compliance with distancing measures (80% either self-isolating or always physical distancing). We identified regional differences in perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors related to COVID-19. DiscussionWe found that knowledge about COVID-19 is largely acquired through domestic news sources, which may explain high self-reported compliance with prevention measures. The results highlight the broader impact of a pandemic on the general publics overall health and wellbeing, outside of personal infection. The study findings should be used to inform public health communications during COVID-19 and future pandemics.