Health literacy on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccinations in Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Health literacy on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects people’s capability to ascertain their health and health care quality during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of health literacy about COVID-19 vaccines and vaccinations (Vaccines and Vaccinations literacy-VL) in the Indonesian adult general population, assessing the perceptions of the respondents about current adult immunization and beliefs about vaccinations in general, and analyzing correlations of these variables with the VL levels. Methods: A cross-sectional study using a rapid survey was administered via the Internet. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics; the internal consistency of the VL scales was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient; the inter-correlation between the functional and interactive-critical VL questions, the underlying components (factors) and each question’s load on the components were identified using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). An alpha level lesser than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Responses to functional- and interactive/ critical- VL questions were acceptable and showed internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.817 and 0.699, respectively), lowest values observed were 0.806 for functional scale and 0.640 for the interactive-critical scale. The PCA demonstrated that there were two components accounting for 52.45% of the total variability. Approximately 60% of respondents were females (n=686). Almost all respondents used the internet to seek information regarding COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccinations. Many used at least one social media actively with 74.4% of respondents sometimes believing the validity of this information. Conclusions: High scores were observed in both functional- and interactive/ critical-VL, and were quite in a balance between sexes in the prior VL and higher in females for the latter; these were also closely related to the educational level and age group. It is crucial to increase public health literacy in managing the pandemic.