Demystifying media sources of information and levels of knowledge about COVID-19: a rapid mini-review of cross-sectional studies in Africa

Aruhomukama, Dickson; Bulafu, Douglas

doi:10.12688/f1000research.51240.1

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(92 reference statements)

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“…Although infodemics are often associated with negative impacts, eight reviews reported positive outcomes related to infodemics on social media during a pandemic. 21 , 23 , 24 , 29 – 33 Social media can be used for crisis communication and management during emerging infectious disease pandemics, regardless of geographical location of the recipient of information. Furthermore, reviews found that dissemination of information on several social media platforms had significantly improved knowledge awareness and compliance to health recommendations among users.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One systematic review evaluated the knowledge levels and media sources of information about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in African countries 29 and found that 40% (4/10) of studies reported that the participants used social media as their source to acquire information about COVID-19. Likewise, traditional communication channels (such as television and radio stations), family members and places of worship were also used to receive information about the disease.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 19 Several systematic reviews did not consider in their final analysis and conclusion statements the limitations of each included study’s design. 20 , 22 – 25 , 28 , 29 , 31 One study concluded that the spread of misinformation has been frequently derived from poor-quality investigations. 21 Lastly, a large number of editorials, commentaries, viewpoints and perspectives were published since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; these types of articles are fast-tracked publications not based on new experimental and analytical data.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infodemics and health misinformation: a systematic review of reviews

Nascimento¹,

Pizarro²,

Almeida³

et al. 2022

Bull World Health Organ

157

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Objective To compare and summarize the literature regarding infodemics and health misinformation, and to identify challenges and opportunities for addressing the issues of infodemics. Methods We searched MEDLINE®, Embase®, Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, Scopus and Epistemonikos on 6 May 2022 for systematic reviews analysing infodemics, misinformation, disinformation and fake news related to health. We grouped studies based on similarity and retrieved evidence on challenges and opportunities. We used the AMSTAR 2 approach to assess the reviews’ methodological quality. To evaluate the quality of the evidence, we used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines. Findings Our search identified 31 systematic reviews, of which 17 were published. The proportion of health-related misinformation on social media ranged from 0.2% to 28.8%. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are critical in disseminating the rapid and far-reaching information. The most negative consequences of health misinformation are the increase of misleading or incorrect interpretations of available evidence, impact on mental health, misallocation of health resources and an increase in vaccination hesitancy. The increase of unreliable health information delays care provision and increases the occurrence of hateful and divisive rhetoric. Social media could also be a useful tool to combat misinformation during crises. Included reviews highlight the poor quality of published studies during health crises. Conclusion Available evidence suggests that infodemics during health emergencies have an adverse effect on society. Multisectoral actions to counteract infodemics and health misinformation are needed, including developing legal policies, creating and promoting awareness campaigns, improving health-related content in mass media and increasing people’s digital and health literacy.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Infodemics and health misinformation: a systematic review of reviews

Nascimento¹,

Pizarro²,

Almeida³

et al. 2022

Bull World Health Organ

157

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite that challenge, many authors insist on the fact that understanding information is critical to the success of public health interventions and the reduction of health inequalities 25 – 28 . Currently, health literacy is called to have an even more important role as it is being combined with media literacy to improve understanding of the disease, the associated public health measures and reduce misinformation 13 , 16 , 30 . Understanding information related to COVID-19 and to public health measures is also important for the proper application of public health measures: for example, understanding that COVID-19 is an airborne virus might encourage an individual to wear a mask and to keep distances from others 13 , 18 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How level of understanding and type of used sources relate to adherence to COVID-19 public health measures in Canada

Courdi

Ali

Pelletier‐Dumas

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Previous studies have highlighted the importance of promoting health literacy and minimizing misinformation to encourage higher adherence to key public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores how one’s self-reported understanding of information and types of sources used to get information regarding COVID-19 can hinder adherence to public health measures implemented by the Canadian government. Data was collected following a longitudinal design of 11 time points for April 2020 to April 2021. The sub-sample used for this study included 2659 Canadians who completed the survey for at least four time points. Using Latent Class Growth Analysis, we modelled typical trajectories of adherence to three key public health measures: staying home, social distancing and mask wearing. Overall, a lower level of understanding was associated with lower adherence trajectories to public health measures, and vice-versa. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) showed that the higher the level of understanding, the higher were the chances of following a high adherence trajectory. The type of used sources also showed a significant statistical association with adherence trajectories for social distancing and staying home (AOR: between 1.1 and 3.4). These results are discussed considering future policy implications.

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“…20 A systematic review conducted to assess the media sources of information and knowledge levels about COVID-19 revealed that 40% of the population depended on social media as their primary source of information regarding the disease. 21 The increased circulation of misinformation in social media platforms during the accelerated health emergency has led to a cataclysmal infodemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infodemic in Public health a reemerging public health threat: a scoping review

2023

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Background: Infodemic is a neologism of ‘information’ and ‘epidemic’ coined in the year 2003. Evidence mapping is a technique to appraise the literature which enables the extent of research activity in a specific area to be discovered. The main objective of this evidence synthesis presents the outcomes of an evidence map that was directed to know the extent of Infodemics and its effects on public health. Methods: The following methods were used to construct this evidence synthesis: Phase I. Construct a Broad Question Referring to the Field of Analysis. Phase II; Defining Key Variables to Be Mapped, identifying the characters of each variable and Outline Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for the variables. Phase III: Literature search. Phase IV: Screening and Charting the Appropriate Evidence within the Synthesis. Results: Authors identified 55 records through database searching, after screening for duplicates, 53 records screened at title/abstract level of which, 16 records were removed because of lack of complete article or articles were not in English. 37 articles were eligible for full text screening, 37 full-text articles were than assessed for eligibility and only 22 articles were included as per inclusion criteria with an interrater Outcome Kappa value: 0.91. The strength of agreement was considered to be 'excellent'. Conclusions: This synthesis focused majorly on the gaps in the research focused on infodemic. The two main gaps identified were lack of systematically conducted research and poor digital health literacy. As infodemic is a new phenomenon with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic it was an eye opener at different levels of public health, furthermore this evidence map points out areas for further research on the impact of infodemic.

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Demystifying media sources of information and levels of knowledge about COVID-19: a rapid mini-review of cross-sectional studies in Africa

Cited by 4 publications

References 62 publications

Infodemics and health misinformation: a systematic review of reviews

Infodemics and health misinformation: a systematic review of reviews

How level of understanding and type of used sources relate to adherence to COVID-19 public health measures in Canada

Infodemic in Public health a reemerging public health threat: a scoping review

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