The effect of fear on health information searching behavior during the pandemic: The case of COVID-19
Küçük Resim Yok
Tarih
2024
Yazarlar
Dergi Başlığı
Dergi ISSN
Cilt Başlığı
Yayıncı
Elsevier Ireland Ltd
Erişim Hakkı
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
Özet
Background and objectives: Fear can cause people to panic, lead to erroneous decisions, and trigger inappropriate behavior. This study aims to investigate the effects of fear of COVID-19 on the perception of the reliability and the use of health information sources. Methods: This study is both a cross-sectional and explanatory study. The participants selected by convenience sampling method were 323 students attending a state university in Turkey. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and the Health Information Sources Survey were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and linear regression analyses were used. Results: The participants' mean FCV-19S score was 2.30 +/- 0.93 on a five-point Likert scale. In the range of 0-10, the information source with the highest reliability perception mean score was the doctor (8.05 +/- 2.54), whereas that with the highest usage was the Internet (7.98 +/- 2.77). Although the fear of COVID-19 had a negative effect on Internet use (b = -0.38; p < 0.05), the effects on the use of other health information sources were positive (b = 0.37-0.83; p < 0.05). Trust in radio (b = 0.60; p < 0.05) and newspapers/magazines (b = 0.49; p < 0.05) also increased with fear. Conclusions: These results showed that as university students' fear of COVID-19 increased, the use of the Internet for health information decreased; however, the use of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health workers, scientific articles, television, radio, and newspapers/journals increased. Nurses were the source of information whose use increased the most, along with increased fear. The findings can guide health policies to be followed. Not only doctor talks but also nurse talks and scientific videos should be increased on the Internet, social media, and other mass media.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
Fear of COVID-19, Health information-seeking behavior, Reliable sources of information, Health communication, Traditional and social media
Kaynak
International Journal of Medical Informatics
WoS Q Değeri
N/A
Scopus Q Değeri
Q1
Cilt
184
