The COVID-19 Risk Perception: A Qualitative Study among the Population in an Urban Setting in Burkina Faso

Fadima Yaya Bocoum (), Kadidiatou Kadio, Alice Bila, Koiné Maxime Drabo and Seni Kouanda
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Fadima Yaya Bocoum: Département Biomédical et Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Ouagadougou 03 BP 7047, Burkina Faso
Kadidiatou Kadio: Département Biomédical et Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Ouagadougou 03 BP 7047, Burkina Faso
Alice Bila: Département Biomédical et Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Ouagadougou 03 BP 7047, Burkina Faso
Koiné Maxime Drabo: Département Biomédical et Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Ouagadougou 03 BP 7047, Burkina Faso
Seni Kouanda: Département Biomédical et Santé Publique, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Ouagadougou 03 BP 7047, Burkina Faso

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Background: The population’s adherence to public health recommendations depends on many individual and collective cultural, socioeconomic, institutional, and environmental factors and the perception of the risks involved. This study aimed to describe and analyze the perception of risk related to coronavirus in the general population. Methods: A qualitative, exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. It involved the general population (youth and adults, men and women, traditional practitioners, religious leaders, and opinion leaders). The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Results: Respondents perceived COVID-19 as deadly, dangerous, and highly contagious. It emerged that respondents perceived themselves to be at risk of being infected by the virus. This risk exposure is linked to several factors. These include the dangerousness of the disease contaminated by direct contact, the feeling of vulnerability linked to working conditions (traders, exposing themselves and others to the disease), status (elderly, and sick,), gender (mobility of men compared to women), and the risk relationship (the individual perceived as being a potential danger to his family/relatives). Vulnerability depended on the immune status of the people (elderly people, pregnant women, and people with chronic diseases), working conditions (shopkeepers, and traders), and also socioeconomic categories (wealthy people). Conclusion: Policymakers and actors in the response to COVID-19 should develop communication strategies to better address ongoing challenges.

Keywords: COVID-19; risk perception; vulnerable people; people at risk; Burkina Faso (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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