During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4 of 10 Americans didn't follow public health measures or lied about being compliant, mostly because they wanted life to feel normal and exercise their personal freedoms, reveals a survey published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

A team led by researchers from Middlesex Community College in Connecticut and the University of Utah analyzed the responses of 1,733 adult Americans to an online survey fielded from Dec 8 to 23, 2021.

Questions assessed rates of nine different kinds of misrepresentation and lack of adherence to COVID-prevention measures, virus-related beliefs, and demographic factors. Screening questions allowed an even distribution of participants who had been infected with COVID-19, were not infected but were at least partially vaccinated, and were not infected and were unvaccinated.

Average participant age was 41 years, 66.0% were women, 66.4% were White, and 27.1% had at least a bachelor's degree.