The effect of fear on health information searching behavior during the pandemic: The case of COVID-19

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dc.contributor.authorTeles, Mesut
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-07T13:24:54Z
dc.date.available2024-11-07T13:24:54Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.departmentNiğde Ömer Halisdemir Üniversitesi
dc.description.abstractBackground 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.
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105368
dc.identifier.issn1386-5056
dc.identifier.issn1872-8243
dc.identifier.pmid38335745
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-85184783385
dc.identifier.scopusqualityQ1
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105368
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11480/14378
dc.identifier.volume184
dc.identifier.wosWOS:001184953800001
dc.identifier.wosqualityN/A
dc.indekslendigikaynakWeb of Science
dc.indekslendigikaynakScopus
dc.indekslendigikaynakPubMed
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier Ireland Ltd
dc.relation.ispartofInternational Journal of Medical Informatics
dc.relation.publicationcategoryMakale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.snmzKA_20241106
dc.subjectFear of COVID-19
dc.subjectHealth information-seeking behavior
dc.subjectReliable sources of information
dc.subjectHealth communication
dc.subjectTraditional and social media
dc.titleThe effect of fear on health information searching behavior during the pandemic: The case of COVID-19
dc.typeArticle

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