International journal of current research and review | 2021
Public Opinion and Practices Regarding Social Distancing During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross Sectional Study in a Major City of India
Abstract
Introduction: Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian government appealed to the citizens to adhere to preventive health behaviours including social distancing, wearing face masks, maintaining hand hygiene and others. Social distancing at public places is an important measure to control the spread of disease. Objective: Current study was carried out with the objectives to evaluate public opinion and their practices regarding social distancing in a major city of India. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using an online questionnaire in the form of Google Forms and the link to the survey was distributed through WhatsApp and also via e-mail. All the eligible participants were requested to forward the questionnaire to as many contacts as possible. A total of 560 participants were approached out of which 452 responded. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 15. Results: Among the total study participants, 92.9% were practising social distancing outside the home. Although most of the participants (79.2%) believed that it provides self-protection from COVID-19, only 43.8% of them were aware of the minimum recommended distance for social distancing. Only 12.6% of participants attended cultural gatherings and 20.4% had visited gym, restaurants or bars. Conclusion: Awareness regarding social distancing was higher among males than females. Only about one-third of the study participants were satisfied regarding social distancing followed in their area. Approximately three-fourths of the participants felt stress and anxiety to be the impact of social distancing. Future prospective studies need to be conducted with a larger sample size and among all classes of society to generalize the study findings.