*3.4. Psychological States in Persons Who Experienced Isolation/Quarantine*

The level of attribution, i.e., the extent to which the responsibility of infection was attributed to patients, was lower in patients than in quarantined persons (*p* < 0.05). Regarding situational fear, fear of COVID-19 reinfection in patients was higher than fear of COVID-19 confirmation in quarantined persons (*p* < 0.05). In contrast, fear of asymptomatic infection in quarantined persons was higher than patients fearing that they would not fully recover, but the difference was not significant (*p* = 0.074). In regard to fear of stigma, fears of criticism and disadvantage were higher in patients than in quarantined persons (*p* < 0.05) (Table 5).


**Table 5.** Psychological survey response results.

footer \* For persons in quarantine due to COVID-19.

Regarding stress due to infectious disease, patients reported higher stress compared to quarantined persons for all five items (*p* < 0.05). The mean score for the item concerning perceived daily life disruption was 4.26 for confirmed persons and 4.6 for quarantined persons, showing a significant difference (*p* < 0.05). An examination of the item responses classified into three groups—high level of perceived daily life disruption (scores 0–3), medium level (4–6), and low level (7–10)—showed corresponding proportions of 49%, 25.9%, and 25.1%, respectively, for confirmed persons, and 42.3%, 29.1%, 28.6%, respectively, for quarantined persons (Table 5).

The analysis of difference between genders revealed the following. The mean score for the attribution of infection was higher in men (*p* < 0.05), whereas the mean scores for fear of the situation, fear of stigma, and stress were higher in women (*p* < 0.05). In addition, the mean score of the item concerning perceived daily life disruption was 4.94 for men and 4.07 for women, showing a significant difference (*p* < 0.05) (Supplementary Table S2).

In regards to age group differences, with the exception of the age 60 or higher group, participants were more likely to answer that patients were responsible for infection as age decreased, while fear of the situation, fear of stigma, and stress increased as age increased. Regarding perceived daily life disruption, the score was lower with a decrease in age (*p* < 0.05) (Supplementary Table S2).
