Article
作者: Alabdulwahhab, Khalid M ; Shankar, Nikhil Gauri ; Ahmad, Mohammad Shakil ; Nguyen, Huong Thi Thanh ; Shaik, Riyaz Ahmed ; Man Ho, Mandy ; Le, Tung Thanh ; Ensaldo-Carrasco, Eduardo ; Lee, Jung Jae ; Lok, Kris Yuet Wan ; Bilimale, Anil S ; Nguyen, Khanh Thi ; Choi, Edmond Pui Hang ; Alzahrani, Meshari A ; Fawole, Israel Opeyemi ; Corzo, Walter ; De Leon, Josephine M ; Mukeshimana, Madeleine ; Tran, Hanh Thi Hong ; Toro, Edgardo ; Fadodun, Oluwadamilola Agnes ; Efficace, Fabio ; Schettini, Luisa Clausi ; Li, Jiaying ; Hasan, Muhammad Kamil Che ; Vanichbuncha, Tita ; Irawan, Devi ; Uwiringiyimana, Emmanuel ; Mohamed, Iman Elmahdi ; Mantoani, Leandro Cruz ; Nguyen, Son Truong ; Boonpatcharanon, Sawitree ; Nguyen, Chinh Thi Minh ; Meneses-González, Fernando ; Deek, Hiba ; El-Raey, Fathiya ; Sagun, Ceryl G ; Alboraie, Mohamed ; Byiringiro, Samuel ; Goh, Yong-Shian Shawn ; Tarrant, Marie ; Lin, Chia-Chin ; Youssef, Naglaa ; Ogungbe, Oluwabunmi ; Leal, Daniela Giambruno ; Fong, Daniel Yee Tak ; Duan, Wenjie ; Urgel, Elvira L ; Wong, Janet Yuen Ha ; Davidson, Patricia M ; Lezana-Fernández, Miguel Ángel ; De Leon, Anjanette S ; Sommer, Kathrin ; Kwok, Cannas ; Koirala, Binu ; Nzabonimana, Aimable ; Pandian, Vinciya ; Krishna, Ashish ; Puang-Ngern, Busayasachee ; Poon, Angela Chiu Yin ; Khan, Naimah Ebrahim ; Omer, Nagla Abdelrahim Mohamed Ahmed ; Akingbade, Oluwadamilare ; Reséndiz-Rodriguez, Areli ; El Nayal, Mayssah A ; Escotorin, Pilar ; Manirambona, Emery ; Nurumal, Mohd Said
BackgroundIn this study, we assessed the general population's fears towards various diseases and events, aiming to inform public health strategies that balance health-seeking behaviours.MethodsWe surveyed adults from 30 countries across all World Health Organization (WHO) regions between July 2020 and August 2021. Participants rated their fear of 11 factors on an 11-point Likert scale. We stratified the data by age and gender and examined variations across countries and regions through multidimensional preference analysis.ResultsOf the 16 512 adult participants, 62.7% (n = 10 351) were women. The most feared factor was the loss of family members, reported by 4232 participants (25.9%), followed by cancer (n = 2248, 13.7%) and stroke (n = 1416, 8.7%). The highest weighted fear scores were for loss of family members (mean (x̄) = 7.46, standard deviation (SD) = 3.04), cancer (x̄ = 7.00, SD = 3.09), and stroke (x̄ = 6.61, SD = 3.24). The least feared factors included animals/insects (x̄ = 3.72, SD = 2.96), loss of a mobile phone (x̄ = 4.27, SD = 2.98), and social isolation (x̄ = 4.83, SD = 3.13). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was the sixth most feared factor (x̄ = 6.23, SD = 2.92). Multidimensional preference analyses showed distinct fears of COVID-19 and job loss in Australia and Burundi. The other countries primarily feared loss of family members, cancer, stroke, and heart attacks; this ranking was consistent across WHO regions, economic levels, and COVID-19 severity levels.ConclusionsFear of family loss can improve public health messaging, highlighting the need for bereavement support and the prevention of early death-causing diseases. Addressing cancer fears is crucial to encouraging the use of preventive services. Fear of non-communicable diseases remains high during health emergencies. Top fears require more resources and countries with similar concerns should collaborate internationally for effective fear management.