Associations Between COVID-19 Misinformation Exposure and Belief With COVID-19 Knowledge and Preventive Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Online Study

Abstract

Background Online misinformation proliferation during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a major public health concern. Objective We aimed to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation exposure and beliefs, associated factors including psychological distress with misinformation exposure, and the associations between COVID-19 knowledge and number of preventive behaviors. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 1049 South Korean adults in April 2020. Respondents were asked about receiving COVID-19 misinformation using 12 items identified by the World Health Organization. Logistic regression was used to compute adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for the association of receiving misinformation with sociodemographic characteristics, source of information, COVID-19 misinformation belief, and psychological distress, as well as the associations of COVID-19 misinformation belief with COVID-19 knowledge and the number of COVID-19 preventive behaviors among those who received the misinformation. All data were weighted according to the Korea census data in 2018. Results Overall, 67.78% (n=711) of respondents reported exposure to at least one COVID-19 misinformation item. Misinformation exposure was associated with younger age, higher education levels, and lower income. Sources of information associated with misinformation exposure were social networking services (aOR 1.67, 95% CI 1.20-2.32) and instant messaging (aOR 1.79, 1.27-2.51). Misinformation exposure was also associated with psychological distress including anxiety (aOR 1.80, 1.24-2.61), depressive (aOR 1.47, 1.09-2.00), and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (aOR 1.97, 1.42-2.73), as well as misinformation belief (aOR 7.33, 5.17-10.38). Misinformation belief was associated with poorer COVID-19 knowledge (high: aOR 0.62, 0.45-0.84) and fewer preventive behaviors (≥7 behaviors: aOR 0.54, 0.39-0.74). Conclusions COVID-19 misinformation exposure was associated with misinformation belief, while misinformation belief was associated with fewer preventive behaviors. Given the potential of misinformation to undermine global efforts in COVID-19 disease control, up-to-date public health strategies are required to counter the proliferation of misinformation.

The Role of Transparency, Trust, and Social Influence on Uncertainty Reduction in Times of Pandemics: Empirical Study on the Adoption of COVID-19 Tracing Apps

“…The main aspects of the four uncertainties considered are summarized in Table 1 . In addition, the four described uncertainties are further reinforced by unverified information and fake news [ 41 - 43 ].…”

Characterizing the COVID-19 Infodemic on Chinese Social Media: Exploratory Study

“…This infodemic is a phenomenon of overabundance of information caused by COVID-19 misinformation, which has rapidly propagated on social media and attracted widespread attention from the government and health agencies during the ongoing pandemic [ 3 , 4 ]. The infodemic has made the pandemic worse, harmed more people, and jeopardized the global health system’s reach and sustainability [ 5 , 6 ]. Thus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called it a disease accompanying the COVID-19 epidemic [ 7 ].…”

Effects of COVID-19 Emergency Alert Text Messages on Practicing Preventive Behaviors: Cross-sectional Web-Based Survey in South Korea

“…Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the production and consumption of information have increased rapidly and significantly [ 9 , 12 ]. According to a study conducted in Korea, more than two-thirds of the participants reported exposure to COVID-19 misinformation between January and April 2020 [ 38 ]. Communication via emergency alert text messages can be an effective strategy for public health authorities to provide accurate and reliable information, confront misinformation or disinformation, and reduce the negative impact of such infodemics.…”

“…Infrequent reading of text messages by participants in their 20s might be because they are more proficient in using mobile technology and prefer obtaining information via online digital resources. However, their digital health literacy—the ability to evaluate health resources and apply gathered information to health-related decisions—was relatively low [ 38 , 50 ]. Therefore, young people have less opportunity to obtain official information from public health authorities and are more likely to be exposed to misinformation distributed online.…”