The COVID-related perceptions in India and the USA : a comparative analysis

We used an online survey for the comparative analyses of various metrics of COVID-related perceptions such as stress, knowledge, and preventive behaviors between India and the US based participants. The working hypothesis was that the Indians would have higher COVID-related stress, perceived threat, and lesser knowledge, compared to the Americans. We further hypothesized that, higher perceived threat would encourage Indians than Americans, to better adhere to the preventive guidelines as well as better accept hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 vaccine. The survey questionnaire was built and sent out via red cap.

The primary outcome of the study was the difference in knowledge, stress, preventive behaviors, and perceived threat between Indian and the US based participants. The study participants were divided into categories based on several sociodemographic factors such as age, education level, gender, and family income. We also asked whether the participant was a healthcare worker (HCW) (yes vs. no), had a family member with COVID-19 (yes vs. no). A new variable was computed to estimate perceived threat based on age, HCW, chances of having severe COVID infection, state of COVID in his area.

We used 'factor analyses' to abbreviate the metrics on stress, knowledge, preventive behavior, and perceived risk into normalized combined nominal scores (0-10), respectively. We received 962 responses and among them 242 and 531 participants were from the India or the USA, respectively. The Indian participants were predominantly males and young, while the US based participants were mostly females and middle-aged. Indian participants had lower knowledge, higher stress and acceptance of preventive guidelines, compared to the Americans.

本研究采用在线调研方式，针对印度与美国籍参与者的新冠（COVID-19）相关认知（包括心理压力、认知水平、防护行为等多项指标）开展对比分析。本研究的工作假设为：相较于美国参与者，印度参与者的新冠相关心理压力、感知威胁程度更高，而认知水平更低。本研究进一步提出假设：更高的感知威胁程度会促使印度参与者比美国参与者更严格遵守新冠防护指南，同时更愿意接受羟氯喹与新冠疫苗。本研究的调查问卷通过REDCap平台搭建并发放。

本研究的主要结局指标为印度与美国籍参与者在认知水平、心理压力、防护行为及感知威胁程度上的差异。本研究参与者按照年龄、受教育程度、性别、家庭收入等多项社会人口统计学因素进行分组。此外，调研还收集了参与者是否为医护人员（Healthcare Worker，HCW）（是/否）、是否有家庭成员感染新冠（COVID-19）（是/否）等信息。研究人员基于年龄、是否为医护人员、感染新冠重症的概率以及所在地区的新冠疫情态势，构建了新的变量以评估感知威胁程度。

本研究采用因子分析方法，分别将心理压力、认知水平、防护行为及感知风险等指标简化为标准化的合并名义得分（取值范围0-10）。本次调研共回收有效问卷962份，其中242名参与者来自印度，531名来自美国。印度参与者以男性及青年群体为主，而美国参与者则以女性及中年群体居多。相较于美国参与者，印度参与者的认知水平更低、心理压力更高，且对新冠防护指南的接受度更高。