Feeling prepared to face COVID-19 pandemic among Venezuelans in Chile: findings from an opinion poll.

INTRODUCTION

International migration is a social determinant of health. The past decade has seen a large exodus of Venezuelans within Latin America, including Chile. In the past months, the world has been facing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic and its respiratory disease COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE

To explore what factors are associated with feeling prepared to face the COVID-19 pandemic among the Venezuelan population residing in Chile.

METHODS

Cross-sectional quantitative study with an opinion poll design. An online self-reported survey in Spanish and Creole was designed and piloted with experts and international migrants. It was disseminated to various international migrant groups through networks of migrant and pro-migrant organizations and the Chilean public health care network across the national territory. An effective sample size for analysis of 1690 participants was reached, of which 1008 (60%) were from Venezuela and included in this analysis. Feeling prepared to face the COVID-19 pandemic (yes/no) among Venezuelan migrants was described, as well as relevant variables like sex, level of education, length of stay, healthcare provision, anxiety or depression due to COVID-19, confinement, and evaluation of the quality of the information provided by the COVID-19 government.

RESULTS

65% of the Venezuelan participants reported not feeling prepared for the pandemic. Compared to Venezuelan migrants who feel prepared to face the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants who reported not feeling prepared were in a higher proportion female, with secondary education level, had arrived in Chile in the past year, do not have a job but want to work, and belong to the public healthcare provision.

DISCUSSION

Receiving good quality information on the pandemic and mental health symptoms are important factors associated with feeling prepared to face COVID-19 in Venezuelan migrants in Chile, suggesting that increased attention towards the physical and mental health of Venezuelan migrants in Chile and the region is needed.