Frontiers in Public Health (Jan 2022)

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

  • Mahaman L. Moussa,
  • Fatchima Laouali Moussa,
  • Homood A. Alharbi,
  • Tagwa Omer,
  • Hussain Ahmad Sofiany,
  • Tarraji Mohammed Almuzaini,
  • Eissa Salem Alsaady,
  • Sattam Musleh Alrashede

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.740625
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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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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