Greek population’s perceptions of nonpharmacological interventions towards the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic mitigation: A regressionbased association analysis

Abstract

INTRODUCTION In the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, even though vaccines have been rolled out and the vaccination campaigns in some countries have already been followed by a decline in number and severity of cases, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) are still playing an important role on COVID-19 management (e.g. social distancing) that are imposed by the authorities and require the public's adherence and behavioral adjustment. This study aims to identify factors that affect the general public's attitudes towards the importance of NPI in Greece. METHODS This prevalence study, enrolled 657 adults from the general Greek population in order to assess their beliefs and identify possible factors that influence their perceptions of NPI. All associations were assessed through multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS Overall, Greeks considered NPI important for health protection. The participants who were less likely to consider NPI important were men compared to women (OR=1.64;95% CI: 1.15-2.36, p=0.007), people aged <40 years compared to those >= 40 years (OR=0.48;95% CI: 0.34-0.68, p<0.001), and people who did not choose the Hellenic National Public Health Organization (NPHO) to get informed about COVID-19 compared to other sources (OR=0.65;95% CI: 0.46-0.92, p=0.014). CONCLUSIONS This study profiled Greek people who do and do not consider NPI important, primarily on their demographic characteristics. Focused communicational strategies in certain population subgroups are recommended.