AUTHOR=Moussa Mahaman L. , Moussa Fatchima Laouali , Alharbi Homood A. , Omer Tagwa , Sofiany Hussain Ahmad , Almuzaini Tarraji Mohammed , Alsaady Eissa Salem , Alrashede Sattam Musleh 

TITLE=Association of Fear of COVID-19 and Health Literacy Among the General Public in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Assessment

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.740625

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.740625

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>This study aims to determine the level of fear of coronavirus disease—2019 (COVID-19) among the general public in Saudi Arabia and the association of its scores with their level of health literacy.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the general population in Saudi Arabia from April 2020 to May 2020. A three-part online self-reported survey was used to assess the participants' demographic characteristics, fear of COVID-19 of the participants, and levels of health literacy.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Of the 848 participants, 56.8% were in the age group of 25–34, 45.6% were females, and 57.1% had a bachelor's degree. The total mean score of the fear of COVID-19 scale of the participants was FCoV-19: mean ± SD = 19.60 ± 7.33 and the health literacy was HL index: mean ± SD = 27.57 ± 11.05. There was a significant difference in the scores of fear of COVID-19 scale in terms of age (<italic>F</italic> = 2.442, <italic>p</italic> = 0.050), representing that those aged 45 and above had higher mean fear scores than the younger participants. The analysis revealed that an increased level of fear of COVID-19 was associated with older age (<italic>B</italic> = 1.87; <italic>p</italic> = 0.020), being unemployed (<italic>B</italic> = 0.76; <italic>p</italic> = 0.023), with no formal education (<italic>B</italic> = 0.89; <italic>p</italic> = 0.001), and low level of health literacy (<italic>B</italic> = 0.02; <italic>p</italic> = 0.021).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The study shows an above-average level of fear of COVID-19 of the general public in Saudi Arabia and its association with a low level of functional health literacy. Timely and comprehensive health interventions should be promoted to enhance the level of health literacy and further reduce the level of fear of COVID-19 in the community.</p></sec>