Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Fear of COVID-19 in the Pakistani General Population

With the spread of the coronavirus 19 pandemic, many people around the world have developed high levels of Covid-19 anxiety, which has serious implications for psychological and social adjustment. The aim of this study was to increase knowledge about the level of fear of Covid-19 and associated sociodemographic factors in the general Pakistani population. Respondents included 456 Pakistani adults (62.8% women) completed a self-report questionnaire that included the sociodemographic factors of the Fear of Covid-19 scale. The data showed a significant association between high levels of Fear of Covid-19 and female gender, low educational level, and low socioeconomic status. This result suggests that Covid-19 anxiety is relatively high in Pakistan and generally higher than in other countries (although direct comparison is difficult because of differences in sample composition and data collection period). Finally, anxiety should be monitored in the general population and intervention and prevention strategies should target vulnerable populations.