Behavioural aspects of pandemic COVID-19 in the Czech Republic and consequences on the public health
Abstract
The paper presents the outcomes of the research project of the WHO/Euro, Ministry of Health Czech Republic and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University which concerned Czech population behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Czech Republic, the research was carried out in 3 waves on a representative sample respondents using methodology of a questionnaire survey.
The results showed that the risk perception in connection with the pandemic was low in the Czech environment, regardless of the growing number of infected and deceased. Optimism persisted about the perception of personal susceptibility to infection and self-efficacy.
General wellbeing was above average after successfully coping with the first wave, but it decreased slightly in connection with the worsening of the pandemic situation. Compliance with preventive measures has been relatively low for a long time and the trend has been rather declining.
A positive finding was the increase in the proportion of those who tried to improve the lifestyle in connection with the pandemic. This suggests that people are more aware of the link between lifestyle and resilience to disease.