Public attitudes, awareness and fears related to the spread of COVID-19 in Bulgaria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/AMB-2023-0020Keywords:
COVID-19, public attitudes, awarenessAbstract
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has led to radical lifestyle changes worldwide, particularly in the Republic of Bulgaria, and was a factor for global changes in economics, politics, healthcare and daily life.
Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze the public attitudes, awareness and fears related to the COVID-19 disease in the Republic of Bulgaria. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted between August 1st, 2022 and September 1st, 2022 via an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 24 closed questions. A total of 1861 people, aged 18-69 years and older, took part in the survey after being selected randomly. The data were statistically processed via MS Excel.
Results: The main source of information to the respondents on issues related to COVID-19 was the Internet (29,8%), followed by TV (26%) and the specialized website (Single information portal) – 15,9%. More than one-third (35,1%) of the respondents was afraid of getting infected and an equal share of participants reported that they have been infected with COVID-19. More than half of the respondents (52,5%) adhered to all the provisions of the governmental bodies related to limiting the COVID-19 pandemic. The most frequent symptom of post-COVID-19 syndrome was being easily fatigued (26,7%), followed by shortness of breath (13,4%) and persistent cough (11,6%).
Conclusion: The survey could be useful in understanding what were the public attitudes, awareness and fears related to the COVID-19 disease in the Republic of Bulgaria during the pandemic.
References
Public attitudes on issues related to COVID-19, National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, NCPI, 2020.
Health, N.I.o. COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines. National Institutes of Health. Available at https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/. Accessed [29.03.2021]. 2021.
https://srzi .bg/
Leventi N, Kazakos E, Vodenitcharova A et al, Health sciences students’ perception on stigmatization related to COVID-19. Eur J Pub Health, 2021;31(Supplement_3), ckab165.267, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab165.267
Kazakos E, Farmaki P, Leventi N et al. Human rights restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic – Healthcare students’perceptions. Eur J Pub Health, 2021;31 (Supplement_3), ckab165.268, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab165.268
Zlatanova T. Economic and Social Development in the EU Countries following the Covid Pandemic-19, Fortysixth Scientific and Technological Session, Contact 2021(24), ed. TEMPO, 94-99.
Zlatanova T, Popov N, Encheva-Stoykova E. Health inequalities in the conditions of COVID-19, Trakia J Sci, 2021;19(Suppl. 2), 84-87. Trakia University, Available online at: http://www.uni-sz.bg, doi:10.15547/tjs.2021.s.02.015
Zlatanova T, Popov N, Patients’ opinions on outpatient medical care during the COVID-19 CRISIS, Journal of IMAB – Annual Proceeding (Scientifi c Papers), 2022;28(4), https://www.journal-imab-bg.org 4601, 4601-4605.
Zlatanova-Velikova R, Semova B, Vasileva D. The satisfaction of patients from outpatient medical care during the COVID 19 pandemic. Int J Med Rev Case Rep, 2022; 6(9): 15-18.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under these terms.
Journal Acta Medica Bulgarica 
