Covid-19 in the State of Ceará: behaviors and beliefs in the arrival of the pandemic

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the behavioral aspects and beliefs of the population of Ceará in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire was conducted on sociodemographic aspects and opinions related to the pandemic. Absolute and relative frequencies were calculated, the association between variables was performed with Chi-square, and the level of significance was 5%. The final sample had 2,259 participants, and an association was observed between females and perceiving themselves with a high risk of infection (p = 0.044) and males with non-performance of voluntary quarantine (p < 0.001). People aged 80 years and over were partially quarantined due to the flow of people at home (p < 0.001). Participants with elementary school education had a lower risk of infection than participants with a higher level of education (p < 0.001). This group includes people who did voluntary quarantine the least (p < 0.001). Participants living in the inland region of the state had less direct contact with someone tested positive for the Coronavirus (p = 0.031) and are less reclusive (p < 0.001). We can conclude that the approach to the COVID-19 pandemic varies by social aspects, such as gender, age, education, and place of residence, as well as the belief system of the population of the State of Ceará.

摘要 本研究旨在评估巴西塞阿拉州（Ceará）民众在新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）期间的行为表现与认知观念。本研究通过在线问卷收集了与疫情相关的社会人口学特征及民众观点数据。研究计算了绝对频数与相对频数，采用卡方（Chi-square）检验分析变量间的关联，显著性水平设定为5%。最终有效样本共纳入2259名受访者，结果显示女性群体更易感知自身感染风险较高（p=0.044），而男性群体则更少执行自愿居家隔离措施（p<0.001）。80岁及以上的受访者因家庭内部人员流动而采取部分居家隔离措施（p<0.001）。小学学历的受访者相较于高等学历群体，感染风险更低（p<0.001）。该群体同时也是自愿居家隔离执行率最低的群体（p<0.001）。居住在该州内陆地区的受访者，与冠状病毒（Coronavirus）核酸检测阳性者的直接接触更少（p=0.031），且居家隔离的封闭程度更低（p<0.001）。综上可知，塞阿拉州民众应对新冠疫情的方式存在显著异质性，且这种差异与性别、年龄、受教育程度、居住地等社会人口学特征及民众的认知观念密切相关。