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Sources of information in times of health crisis: evidence from Turkey during COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Aim:Media as a source of information can shape public opinion regarding the COVID-19 response. Identifying how and where people seek information during the COVID-19 outbreak is vital to convey the most effective message about managing the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of this study was to determine the sources of information and investigate the role of various demographic factors-age, gender, educational attainment and perceived economic level-on sources of information. Subject and methods:An online survey (n?=?4624) was conducted on Turkish public during the early stages of the COVID-19. Results:The results showed that internet journalism and social media were the most preferable sources of information. Higher age, educational attainment and economic level were related to higher levels of seeking information from TV, newspaper, internet journalism and informative meetings. Females obtained information more from their friends and family and social media than males. High school graduates or below watched more TV and obtained less information from internet journalism, while university graduates sought information from their families and friends, and postgraduates attended informative meetings and read newspapers. People with medium and high economic status, respectively, watched more TV and read more newspapers, while people with low socioeconomic status attended informative meetings less. Conclusion:In sum, this study provides evidence that a source of information might be influenced by demographic factors. Researchers and policymakers can use a source of information to develop crisis-response strategies by considering variations in the demographic factors.

SUBMITTER: Gecer E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7552946 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sources of information in times of health crisis: evidence from Turkey during COVID-19.

Geçer Ekmel E Yıldırım Murat M Akgül Ömer Ö

Zeitschrift fur Gesundheitswissenschaften = Journal of public health 20201013 5

<h4>Aim</h4>Media as a source of information can shape public opinion regarding the COVID-19 response. Identifying how and where people seek information during the COVID-19 outbreak is vital to convey the most effective message about managing the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of this study was to determine the sources of information and investigate the role of various demographic factors-age, gender, educational attainment and perceived economic level-on sources of information.<h4>Subject and met ...[more]

PMID: 33072495

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Project description:IntroductionIt has been approved that information sources would affect public behaviors. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, this influence was enhanced and showed a distinctive pattern among different populations, which has been less noticed before. We aimed to investigate the potential roles of different information sources in COVID-19 preventive behaviors of different publics.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey with 11,190 participants from 33 province-level regions in China was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19 preventive behaviors, and information sources for COVID-19-related information were assessed. A mixed linear model was used to analyze risk factors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors. The effects of different information sources on COVID-19 prevention behaviors of different publics were analyzed.ResultsGenerally, the Chinese public had good COVID-19 preventive behaviors, and the top three COVID-19 preventive behaviors with the higher action rate were avoiding eat bushmeat (76.1%), a healthy diet (74.8%), and avoiding contact with people with symptoms of respiratory diseases (73.0%). About information sources, 12320 telephone (National Public Health Hotline) (-0.62, 95% CI: -0.94 to -0.31) and acquaintances consulting (-1.00, 95% CI: -1.31 to -0.69) were negatively associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors, while internet resources, family doctors, hospitals, and community health centers were positively associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors (1.00 vs. 0.47 vs. 0.46 vs. 0.33, P < 0.05). For older adults, accessing to COVID-19-related information through family doctors and community health centers were positively associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors. For the non-educated, family doctors and community health centers had positive effects on their COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Family doctors and internet resources were positively associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors among those earning 5,000 yuans and above. The effects of family doctors, hospitals, and internet resources were higher for COVID-19 preventive behaviors of urban publics than for rural publics. Finally, the effect of internet resources on COVID-19 preventive behaviors of females was lower than males.ConclusionsObtaining COVID-19-related information through internet resources had the most significant effect on COVID-19 preventive behaviors, but was not significant among publics with old age, low education, low income, and living in rural area.

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Sources of information in times of health crisis: evidence from Turkey during COVID-19.

Publications

Sources of information in times of health crisis: evidence from Turkey during COVID-19.

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