Protection against COVID-19 infection – opinions on the effectiveness of selected methods use in practice against infection

Introduction
The aim of the study was to examine the public’s opinion on the effectiveness of various methods of preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and their practical application.

Material and methods
This pilot study was conducted in January 2022 among 307 people (225 women and 82 men) in the age range 18-87 years. The study was conducted by a diagnostic survey method using a survey technique (author’s questionnaire).

Results
It was more common for vaccinated than unvaccinated individuals not to get sick (15.61% vs. 4.90%). In addition, among the unvaccinated, 50.0% indicated that they were likely to get sick but did not take the test, while such a response was indicated by 24.89% of the vaccinated. The majority of respondents considered proper and frequent hand washing (n = 205, 66.76%) and hand disinfection (n = 176, 57.33%) to be the most effective methods of preventing COVID-19 infection. The more methods of preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection respondents considered effective, the more they used (rho = 0.75990). Those who were vaccinated reported using more of these methods in practice, compared to unvaccinated individuals (mean 6.48 vs. 5.14, respectively). In addition, those who were rather sick, used more methods to prevent COVID-19 infection than those who were sick with COVID-19.

Conclusions
Vaccinated individuals considered significantly more methods of preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection to be effective, and also used more of these methods in practice. An association was shown between the incidence of COVID-19 and use of infection prevention methods in practice.