Chia Terkuma, Oyeniran Oluwatosin I, Iorfa Steven K
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria.
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria.
J Taibah Univ Med Sci. 2021 Dec;16(6):929-934. doi: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2021.05.006. Epub 2021 Jun 12.
The fear of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected a wide range of health-related attitudes and behaviours worldwide. However, within an African population, it is not clear how the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic may be particularly important for formulating public health policies and their consequent implementation. As a first step, it is important to validate a psychometrically sound instrument to assess the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic using an African population. This study presents a preliminary validation of the fear of the COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) using a sub-Saharan African population from Nigeria.
Three hundred and eighty-nine people responded from a total of 1000 invitees. The participants were requested to fill a web-based (Google forms) FCV-19S questionnaire. The responses, together with their socio-demographic data, were analysed using descriptive statistics and a confirmatory factor analysis.
The age of the participants ranged between 21 and 30 years (mean 25.84 years). The study participants comprised 220 males (56.6%) and 169 females (43.4%). The factor loadings of all seven items of the FCV-19S questionnaire reached statistical significance and, therefore, were retained. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor structure of the FCV-19S questionnaire was a better fit for the Nigerian subpopulation under consideration. Cronbach's alphas for both subscales were acceptable.
The FCV-19S is a valid, suitable, and effective tool for the African population. Additionally, the implications of its use for public health practice in Africa are essential.
对新冠疫情的恐惧在全球范围内影响了广泛的与健康相关的态度和行为。然而，在非洲人群中，对新冠疫情的恐惧对于制定公共卫生政策及其后续实施可能有多重要尚不清楚。作为第一步，使用非洲人群验证一种心理测量上合理的工具来评估对新冠疫情的恐惧很重要。本研究对来自尼日利亚的撒哈拉以南非洲人群进行了新冠恐惧量表（FCV - 19S）的初步验证。
在总共1000名受邀者中，有389人做出了回应。参与者被要求填写一份基于网络（谷歌表单）的FCV - 19S问卷。使用描述性统计和验证性因素分析对回答及其社会人口统计学数据进行了分析。
参与者年龄在21岁至30岁之间（平均25.84岁）。研究参与者包括220名男性（56.6%）和169名女性（43.4%）。FCV - 19S问卷所有七个条目的因素负荷均达到统计学显著性，因此被保留。验证性因素分析表明，FCV - 19S问卷的双因素结构更适合所考虑的尼日利亚亚人群。两个子量表的克朗巴哈系数均可接受。
FCV - 19S是适用于非洲人群的有效工具。此外，其在非洲公共卫生实践中的应用意义重大。
