Abstract
Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a relatively new coronavirus strain known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has become a significant worldwide health concern. The hesitancy of people to accept vaccination or implement the preventive measures following vaccination can be considered a serious issue that increases the spread of COVID-19. The objectives of the current study were to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and the adoption of preventive measures following vaccination among the general population in Jordan and to compare the perceived stresses between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.
Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among adults above the age of 18 years in Jordan during the period June-October 2021. The survey has six sections: (1) socio-demographic characteristics, (2) vaccination status, (3) knowledge of participants about COVID-19 vaccination, (4) attitude of participants about COVID-19 vaccination, (5) implementation of preventive practices among participants following COVID-19 vaccination, and (6) perceived stress toward COVID-19 among vaccinated and unvaccinated participants.
Results: 605 respondents (69.8% female and 30.2% male) aged between 30-49 years completed the questionnaire. More than half were married and 40.5% received one (29.8%) or two doses (10.7%) of a vaccine. Generally, they showed a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination with a value of 12.7 out of 19. Most of them (>85%) showed proactive practices following vaccination by implementing some preventive measures such as implementing social distancing, avoiding crowded places, and shaking hands. The average perceived stress scale of the general population in Jordan was moderate with a value of 21.5 out of 40. However, fully or partially vaccinated individuals had a significantly (p=0.03) lower PSS (20.97) than unvaccinated people (21.87).
Conclusion: The respondents have a good knowledge and positive attitude towards COVID-19 vaccination with good practices following vaccination. However, unvaccinated individuals were more likely to be stressed than vaccinated people. This study may assist policymakers to enhance the extent of COVID-19 vaccination and reduce the spread of this infection.
License
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Original Article
ELECTRON J GEN MED, Volume 19, Issue 6, December 2022, Article No: em421
https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/12575
Publication date: 26 Oct 2022
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