Frequent mandatory COVID-19 testing may increase risky behavior

Mandatory surveillance testing programs are popular policies aimed to control SARS-CoV-2 and may be considered for future epidemics. However, if people believe that testing lowers their risk of infection, such policies could increase risky behavior and may even cause increased pathogen spread. Using...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPNAS nexus Vol. 1; no. 5; p. pgac247
Main Authors Jones Ritten, Chian, Thunström, Linda, Cherry, Todd, Wulfhorst, J D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Oxford University Press 01.11.2022
Subjects
Brief Report
Disease transmission
Epidemics
Health aspects
Infection
Mediation
Medical tests
Psychological aspects
Risk-taking (Psychology)
Social aspects
Wyoming
United States
Wyoming
COVID-19
mandatory disease testing
disease spread
health risks
risk compensation
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Summary:Mandatory surveillance testing programs are popular policies aimed to control SARS-CoV-2 and may be considered for future epidemics. However, if people believe that testing lowers their risk of infection, such policies could increase risky behavior and may even cause increased pathogen spread. Using data from two US universities, we find that frequent mandatory testing is associated with greater participation in events linked to COVID-19 spread. Women seem to be driving this association, and mediation analyses suggest this is partly due to women's higher perception of COVID-related health risks. Our results show the potential for adverse effects from epidemic control policies, both on average and across population subgroups. Undertaking mitigation measures to reduce such unintended consequences may therefore be important.
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ISSN:2752-6542
2752-6542
DOI:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac247