Singh Sumeet, Koundinya Kunal, Bobdey Saurabh, Teli Prabhakar, Yadav Arun K, Kaushik Sushil Kumar
Department of Community Medicine, AFMC, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Ind Psychiatry J. 2023 Jan-Jun;32(1):43-47. doi: 10.4103/ipj.ipj_65_22. Epub 2023 Jan 4.
Uncertain situation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to fear, stigma, and discrimination across all strata of society in varying proportions. Stigmatization increases the suffering of people or those who are at risk of getting the disease and make it harder for public health authorities to control the disease.
The present study is a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey conducted over a period of four weeks in the month of July 2021 in a food industry in rural region of western Maharashtra among COVID-19 positive patients. A total of 152 participants were included in the study. The data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 20). Descriptive statistics were used which included frequencies and percentages.
64.5% of the participants were males and 35.5% were females. Approx. 85% of the participants were in age group 15-58 years. 100% of them reported to have faced fear on being tested COVID-19 positive. However, only approx. 2-5% individuals hid their illness from family and friends and 7.9% of them were afraid of getting hospitalized.
It was found that fear was prevalent among all survivors but stigma was found to be minimal which is likely due to widespread awareness through media, IEC campaigns, and active involvement of administration in implementing policies.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行的不确定状况在社会各阶层引发了不同程度的恐惧、污名化和歧视。污名化加剧了患者或有患病风险者的痛苦，也使公共卫生当局更难控制疫情。
本研究是一项基于问卷调查的横断面调查，于2021年7月在马哈拉施特拉邦西部农村地区的一家食品行业对COVID-19阳性患者进行，为期四周。共有152名参与者纳入研究。数据使用SPSS软件（版本20）进行分析。采用描述性统计，包括频数和百分比。
64.5%的参与者为男性，35.5%为女性。约85%的参与者年龄在15 - 58岁之间。100%的参与者报告称在被检测出COVID-19呈阳性时感到恐惧。然而，只有约2 - 5%的人对家人和朋友隐瞒病情，7.9%的人害怕住院。
研究发现，恐惧在所有幸存者中普遍存在，但污名化程度极低，这可能是由于媒体、信息、教育和宣传活动的广泛宣传，以及行政部门积极参与政策实施。
