CHICAGO — During the height of the pandemic, 4 in 10 Americans misled others about their COVID-19 status or their adherence to public health measures designed to prevent the spread of the virus, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Network Open, a journal of the Chicago-based American Medical Association.
Researchers found that about 42% of adults admitted they had engaged in some form of misrepresentation related to having COVID-19, vaccination or compliance with pandemic protocols. The results were based on a survey of more than 1,700 adults nationwide conducted in December 2021 — a time when coronavirus cases were surging across the country.
“These data point out to us that a strategy that relies on people admitting to having symptoms or the actual diagnosis may not be the best strategy in future pandemics,” said Angela Fagerlin, senior author of the study and the chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at University of Utah Health. “The data suggest many people will be dishonest for a variety of different reasons.”
