Changes of perceived risk and mental well-being during two waves of COVID-19 pandemic in Czechia

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has been negatively affecting many people's daily life. The strict preventive measures might have contributed to psychological distress, fear and fatigue. Therefore, it is crucial to build trust and ensure effective communication from the government to maintain public awareness. This study focuses on the comparative analysis of public health risk perception of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Methods The questionnaire surveys were conducted online during the first (April 2020) and second (November-December 2020) waves of the pandemics. The health risk concerns, perceived mental well-being and compliance with the adopted measures of the population were evaluate for potential development in time. The impact of age, gender and socio-demographic factors were tested. The average values of the 5-point Likert scale were tested for differences by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests on the significance level 5% and analyzed using the SW STATA v.15. Results From a sample of 9,168 (1st survey) and 1,042 (2nd survey) Czech respondents aged 40 years, respectively 45 years in average, the present results showed that individual health concerns increased with age, while descending trend toward younger age was observed in terms of mental health. The perceived risk of COVID-19 substantially elevated over the observed period (p < 0.001) as well as compliance with the measures (p < 0.001). Further, 27% of the respondents self-evaluated their mental health as bad or very bad that was analysed as a significantly worsening (p < 0.001). Moreover, 66% of respondents evaluated communication of the government as unsatisfactory that was in relation with a low compliance with measures. Conclusions This study contributes to understanding the development of the risk perception as a public response to COVID-19 pandemic. A divergence among the generation was observed. More focused communication of government might be required to enhance public trust. Key messages Compliance with the measures substantially elevated over the pandemics that is in relation with low government trust. Mental well-being has been significantly worsened over the COVID-19 pandemics.