- Patrick Peretti Watel launched with six other researchers the COCONEL study on the psychosociological consequences of Covid-19 and confinement on the French.
- He finds that confinement aggravates social disparities.
- The French support confinement, while barely 25% of the population has been confronted with Covid-19 personally or by a loved one.
The sociologist and researcher at Inserm Patrick Peretti Watel launched a study called COCONEL in collaboration with six other researchers. The objective is to understand how the French are living the Covid-19 epidemic and the containment measures over time. It presents the first results at 20 Minutes .
Can you present this COCONEL study to us?
COCONEL is the acronym for coronavirus, containment and longitudinal investigation. It is an investigation to follow in time the way in which the French live this epidemic and this period of confinement. The objective is to quickly produce results and publicize them to feed the debate with figures and summaries, but also to work on research objects of interest to the six researchers taking part in this study, such as the reluctance to vaccination . The FIFG administers questionnaires to a sample of 1,000 people over the age of 18 representing the adult population in France. They are administered every week with identical questions, and others relating to different themes such as sleep, alcohol consumption, tobacco. We publish summary notes of these studies every week.
Since when did it start?
We wanted to launch this study very quickly, the first wave of questionnaires was sent between March 27 and 29, then every week thereafter. Certain questions have evolved, such as the question of the duration of the epidemic. At first people expected four to five months, now they think it will not be finished before January 2021. And others have appeared, such as the one on vaccines.
What did you observe regarding the consequences of confinement?
Confinement aggravates social inequalities. It is the most precarious who lose their jobs first, workers and employees can hardly do telework, especially reserved for executives. The financial impact of confinement is strongest on the poorest. They are also the most precarious and the most subject to overcrowding. The longer the confinement, the less they will work and the more they find each other all day.
On the health aspects, there is an increase in sleep disorders. Before confinement, 50% of people suffered from sleep disorders, this proportion rises to 75% during this period of confinement. Concerning psychological distress, there is an increase of 8 points compared to the pre-confinement, with 37% of people who suffer from it. Note that this is not simply the consequence of confinement, anxiety linked to the epidemic also plays a role. In general, confinement has greater health consequences for the poorest social categories.
Confinement exacerbates social inequalities according to the #coconel study.
The attacks and threats on individual freedoms increase the anxiety of the population.https: //t.co/LAkyo0XJ2v pic.twitter.com/YDnkjJlRkw
What about people's perception of this confinement?
A majority believe that containment was the only way to fight the epidemic, some even think that it should be hardened and extended. A consensus emerges. But it is fragile. People consider that it was the only solution with regard to the current solution, without stock of masks and without generalized screenings. They are aware that the principle of confinement was not to stop the epidemic but to slow it down in the face of the country's resuscitation capacities, which is a consequence of the lack of resources. The support of confinement is socially differentiated according to financial losses, psychological disorders.
How do the French perceive the threat of the Covid-19?
Sleep disorders and psychological distress are not just related to confinement, but also to the proximity of the virus: the fact that people think they have had it, have it, or know someone who has it . At the start of the study, one in ten had it or knew someone who had it. This epidemic remained fairly virtual. A month later, this proportion increased a little, but 72% of French people neither had it, nor do they know someone who had it. It is therefore quite paradoxical to note that the population supports a containment measure for a threat that they do not see. This is where the role of the media comes into play. On the one hand, strong media treatment is necessary to build consensus on the impact of the disease, but on the other hand, 75% of those questioned find certain images frightening. While we must not forget that the average age of death of Covid-19 is 80 years, and that 95% of those who died had comorbidities.
You also asked this panel about chloroquine…
Yes, we asked them if they thought that hydroxychloroquine was effective against Covid-19. And about 60% of those surveyed said they didn't know, which is pretty healthy. The people who answered that they thought they knew were politicized people, especially from France Insoumise and the Rassemblement national.
What about possible vaccines?
Basically, about 20-25% of those surveyed say they will not take a vaccine, if one exists. This proportion is also observable in people over 70, who are however the most at risk. Among those who would refuse, some say that the disease is not serious, that it has affected few people, but the majority considers that a vaccine would not be safe.
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