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- Title
Prevalence and Factors Associated with Fear of COVID-19 Among Homeless Individuals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the Hamburg Survey of Homeless Individuals.
- Authors
Hajek, André; Bertram, Franziska; Rüth, Victoria van; Kretzler, Benedikt; Püschel, Klaus; Heinrich, Fabian; König, Hans-Helmut
- Abstract
Purpose: To clarify the prevalence and determinants of fear of COVID-19 among homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients and Methods: Data were taken from the Hamburg survey of homeless individuals (n=150) covering homeless adults in Hamburg, Germany. Multiple linear regressions were used. Beyond sociodemographic and lifestyle-related independent variables, COVID-19-related factors were also used as independent variables. Results: In sum, 56.2% of homeless individuals reported no fear of COVID-19, 23.8% reported a little fear of COVID-19, 9.2% reported some fear of COVID-19 and 10.8% reported severe fear of COVID-19. Regressions showed that an increased fear of COVID-19 was significantly associated with younger age (β=−.01, p< 0.05), absence of chronic alcohol consume (β=−.55, p< 0.01), an increased perceived own risk of getting infected with the coronavirus one day (β=0.42, p< 0.001) and a higher agreement that a diagnosis of the coronavirus would ruin his/her life (β=0.13, p< 0.01). Conclusion: Given the poor hygienic conditions and their increased vulnerability, data surprisingly suggest a quite low fear of COVID-19 among homeless individuals. Efforts may be beneficial which contribute to thinking rationally about COVID-19 among homeless people, since low levels of fear of COVID-19 may contribute to careless behavior and can lead to super-spreading events.
- Subjects
HAMBURG (Germany); COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19; INDEPENDENT variables; HOMELESS persons; DIAGNOSIS
- Publication
Risk Management & Healthcare Policy, 2021, Issue 14, p2689
- ISSN
1179-1594
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2147/RMHP.S317039