{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,18]],"date-time":"2025-10-18T21:00:27Z","timestamp":1760821227761,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]],"date-time":"2021-04-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Coronavirus disease 2019 is a serious respiratory virus pandemic. Patient characteristics, knowledge of the COVID-19 disease, risk behaviour and mental state will differ between individuals. The primary aim of this study was to investigate these variables in patients visiting an emergency department in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic and to compare the \u201cCOVID-19 suspected\u201d (positive and negative tested group) with the \u201cCOVID-19 not suspected\u201d (control group) and to compare in the \u201cCOVID-19 suspected\u201d group, the positive and negative tested patients.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Consecutive adult patients, visiting the emergency room at the Franciscus Gasthuis &amp; Vlietland, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, were asked to fill out questionnaires on the abovementioned items on an iPad. The patients were either \u201cCOVID-19 suspected\u201d (positive and negative tested group) or \u201cCOVID-19 not suspected\u201d (control group).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study included a total of 159 patients, 33 (21%) tested positive, 85 (53%) negative and 41 (26%) were COVID-19 not suspected (control group). All patients in this study were generally aware of transmission risks and virulence and adhered to the non-pharmaceutical interventions. Working as a health care professional was correlated to a higher risk of SARS-Cov-2 infection (p- value 0.04). COVID-19 suspected patients had a significantly higher level of anxiety compared to COVID-19 not suspected patients (p-value &lt; 0.001). The higher the anxiety, the more seriously hygiene measures were followed. The anxiety scores of the patients with (pulmonary) comorbidities were significantly higher than without comorbidities.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This is one of the first (large) study that investigates and compares patient characteristics, knowledge, behaviour, illness perception, and mental state with respect to COVID-19 of patients visiting the emergency room, subdivided as being suspected of having COVID-19 (positive or negative tested) and a control group not suspected of having COVID-19. All patients in this study were generally aware of transmission risks and virulence and adhered to the non-pharmaceutical interventions. COVID-19 suspected patients and patients with (pulmonary) comorbidities were significantly more anxious. However, there is no mass hysteria regarding COVID-19. The higher the degree of fear, the more carefully hygiene measures were observed. Knowledge about the coping of the population during the COVID-19 pandemic is very important, certainly also in the perspective of a possible second outbreak of COVID-19.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0249847","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]],"date-time":"2021-04-28T19:00:49Z","timestamp":1619636449000},"page":"e0249847","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Case-control study of patient characteristics, knowledge of the COVID-19 disease, risk behaviour and mental state in patients visiting an emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms in the Netherlands"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6272-5416","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"J. P. M.","family":"van der Valk","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"F. W. J.","family":"Heijboer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"H.","family":"van Middendorp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"A. W. M.","family":"Evers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"J. C. C. M.","family":"in \u2018t Veen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0249847.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102433","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaut.2020.102433","article-title":"The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak","volume":"109","author":"HA Rothan","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Autoimmun"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0249847.ref002","first-page":"11","article-title":"The origin, transmission and clinical therapies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak\u2014an update on the status","volume":"7","author":"YR Guo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Mil Med Res"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0249847.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"576","DOI":"10.1136\/archdischild-2014-306300","article-title":"Optimal management of allergic rhinitis","volume":"100","author":"GK Scadding","year":"2015","journal-title":"Arch Dis Child"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0249847.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1111\/j.2044-8260.1992.tb00997.x","article-title":"The development of a six-item short-form of the state scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)","volume":"31","author":"TM Marteau","year":"1992","journal-title":"Br J Clin Psychol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0249847.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1016\/S0738-3991(03)00045-4","article-title":"Is anxiety a suitable measure of decision aid effectiveness: a systematic review?","volume":"50","author":"HL Bekker","year":"2003","journal-title":"Patient Educ Couns"},{"key":"pone.0249847.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101132","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ctcp.2020.101132","article-title":"Effects of progressive muscle relaxation on anxiety and sleep quality in patients with COVID-19","volume":"39","author":"K Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Complement Ther Clin Pract"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0249847.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17093024","article-title":"A Preliminary Evaluation of the Public Risk Perception Related to the COVID-19 Health Emergency in Italy","volume":"17","author":"G Motta Zanin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"15","key":"pone.0249847.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"472","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6915e5","article-title":"Transmission of COVID-19 to Health Care Personnel During Exposures to a Hospitalized Patient\u2014Solano County, California, February 2020","volume":"69","author":"A Heinzerling","year":"2020","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"issue":"15","key":"pone.0249847.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"477","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6915e6","article-title":"Characteristics of Health Care Personnel with COVID-19\u2014United States, February 12-April 9, 2020","volume":"69","author":"Team CC-R","year":"2020","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"key":"pone.0249847.ref010","article-title":"Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in previously undiagnosed health care workers at the onset of the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic","author":"ES Barrett","year":"2020","journal-title":"medRxiv"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0249847.ref011","article-title":"Sociodemographic Predictors of Health Risk Perception, Attitude and Behavior Practices Associated with Health-Emergency Disaster Risk Management for Biological Hazards: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong, SAR China","volume":"17","author":"EYY Chan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0249847.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e19370","DOI":"10.2196\/19370","article-title":"Analysis of Public Perception of the Israeli Government\u2019s Early Emergency Instructions Regarding COVID-19: Online Survey Study","volume":"22","author":"A Gesser-Edelsburg","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"pone.0249847.ref013","article-title":"The role of community-wide wearing of face mask for control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic due to SARS-CoV-2","author":"VC Cheng","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Infect"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0249847.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2014549","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2020.14549","article-title":"Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Receiving Emergency Medical Services in King County, Washington","volume":"3","author":"BY Yang","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA Netw Open"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0249847.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.1007\/s11538-020-00726-x","article-title":"Commentary on Ferguson, et al., \u201cImpact of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) to Reduce COVID-19 Mortality and Healthcare Demand\u201d","volume":"82","author":"S Eubank","year":"2020","journal-title":"Bull Math Biol"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0249847.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17082893","article-title":"Hand Hygiene, Mask-Wearing Behaviors and Its Associated Factors during the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Cross-Sectional Study among Primary School Students in Wuhan, China","volume":"17","author":"X Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0249847.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-015-0450-0","article-title":"Transmission characteristics of MERS and SARS in the healthcare setting: a comparative study","volume":"13","author":"G Chowell","year":"2015","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0249847.ref018","first-page":"e3201","article-title":"Aerosol-generating procedures and risk of transmission of acute respiratory infections: a systematic review","volume":"3","author":"K Tran","year":"2013","journal-title":"CADTH Technol Overv"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0249847","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]],"date-time":"2021-04-28T19:01:17Z","timestamp":1619636477000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0249847"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Yuka","family":"Kotozaki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0249847","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1932-6203"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]]}}}