Open AccessEmpirical evidence to understand the human factor for effective rapid testing against SARS-CoV-2
Author(s) -
Cornelia Betsch,
Philipp Sprengholz,
Regina Siegers,
Sarah Eitze,
Lars Korn,
Leif Goldhahn,
Jule Marie Schmitz,
Paula Giesler,
Gesine Knauer,
Mirjam A. Jenny
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2107179118
Subject(s) - test (biology) , pandemic , covid-19 , health literacy , coronavirus , medicine , empirical evidence , incentive , intervention (counseling) , psychology , disease , virology , health care , biology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , nursing , political science , paleontology , outbreak , law , economics , microeconomics , philosophy , epistemology
Significance Rapid testing with antigen tests accompanies efforts for controlling the disease dynamics in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. A high willingness to carry out these tests and high test literacy of potential users are needed. In four cross-sectional data collections with more than 4,000 participants, we showed that incentives can increase the willingness to undertake a test, while mandatory reporting was not perceived as a major barrier. However, participants had difficulties correctly interpreting test results. A short health communication intervention effectively reduced complacent behavior after negative test results. In sum, rapid tests have great potential to help fight the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic but only when effective health communication enables people to test and act appropriately.