The effects of mass media messages, perceived susceptibility and self-rated health on public attitude towards COVID-19 in South Africa

作者：Chidiebere A. Nwachukwu, Chukwuedozie K. Ajaero, Ijeoma D. Ajaero · 发表于：BMC Public Health · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1186/s12889-024-20442-8 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：COVID-19 and Mental Health、Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy、Misinformation and Its Impacts

OBJECTIVES: South Africa was the worst affected country in Africa by the COVID-19 pandemic and it is important to interrogate the attitude of the populace towards the pandemic for future interventions. Therefore, this study examined effects of mass media messages, susceptibility to COVID-19 and self-rated health on the attitudes of South Africans towards the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Data was from the National Income Dynamics Study - Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) of 2021 which is a nationally representative panel survey of about 7,000 South African individuals in all the nine provinces. Analyses of data were through descriptive statistics, chi square test and logistic regression models. RESULTS: The results showed that 61.28% of the resondents did not take COVID-19 test while 91.09% of them engaged in behavioral changes such as social distancing and wearing of face masks. In addition, 74.27% of the respondents had access to mass media information, 70.44% believed they have good physical health while 32.43% felt they were not susceptible to COVID-19. The chi-square results of attitude towards COVID-19 showed significant differences in access to mass media messages on COVID-19, race, and province of residence. Furthermore, respondents who had access to mass media information on COVID-19 (OR = 1.469; p = 0.001) and respondents who believed that they were susceptible to COVID-19 infection (OR = 1.443; p = 0.001) were significantly associated with increased likelih...