Influence of Social Media Use on Practice of COVID-19 Preventive Measures Among Ethiopian Residents: An Online Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Infection with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a severe public health issue worldwide. A broad amount of information related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was disseminated by social media in Ethiopia. To date, there is limited evidence on the influence of social media use for covid-19 related information on covid-19 preventive practice. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the influence of social media use on the practice of COVID-19 preventive measures in Ethiopia. Methods: This study employed an anonymous internet-based online cross-sectional survey using Google forms to collects the data from the respondents from 15 May to 17 June 2020 in Ethiopia. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between social media usage as a predictor and COVID-19 preventive practice, after adjusting for socio-demographic and risk perception of COVID-19 variables. The data were analysed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 372 respondents have participated in the study. From 372, 208(55.9%) respondents in this study were male. Study participants who had good utilization of social media to get COVID-19 related information were 9.5 times engaged in COVID-19 preventive practices compared to study participants who had poor utilization of social media to get covid-19 related information (AOR= 9.59, 95% CI = 5.70 - 16.13). Also, study participants who had a high-risk perception of COVID-19 were 2.6 times engaged in COVID-19 practices compared to study participants who had a low-risk perception of covid-19 (AOR = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.58 - 4.38). Study participants who were students at the time of this study were four times more likely to show adequate COVID-19 preventive practice score compared to those who had another occupational status (AOR= 4.07, 95% CI= 1.66 - 9.98) Conclusions: Our results show that the usage of social media networks can have a positive effect on the practice of preventive measures and public safety against COVID-19; high-risk perception contributed to preventive activities against COVID-19. Social networking platforms can be used by public health agencies as an important method to raise public health understanding by disseminating concise messages to targeted audiences.

Influence of social media exposure on knowledge and behaviour of COVID-19 preventive measure: a cross sectional study

“…The study also found that social media exposure to COVID-19 information influences preventive attitudes and behaviors. Higher exposure to COVID-19 details on social media was also associated with 2.5 times more chances of having higher risk perception (aOR 2.5; CI 95% 1.3-5.3) [17], [28], [37]. Predictors of preventive action are not only based on social media awareness, but also incorporate the body of health knowledge, skills, and capabilities known as health literacy.…”

“…Social media platforms are comparatively more powerful in spreading such news for many people. Numerous studies found that social media platforms is an effective tools to improve public awareness of public health issues [12]- [17]. On the other hand, detrimental outcomes may arise due to misinformation including intolerance, racism, inequality, and unhealthy behaviors [18].…”

Use of social media for COVID-19-related information and associated factors among health professionals in Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

“…The median of the nine questions about usage of social media for COVID-19-related information was determined because the cumulative data is not normally distributed. 34 Finally, those who scored higher than the median value were labeled as good users, while those who scored lower were labeled as poor users.…”

Influence of Social Media Covid-19 Messages on the Lifestyle of Students in Two Nigerian Universities

“…Ahmad & Murad (2020) in their study of how social media were used to spread panic in the Covid-19 pandemic discovered that Facebook was the most used medium in Iraq to spread information about Covid-19. Sadore et al (2021) conducted a similar study in Ethiopia and discovered that exposure to social media messages on Covid -19 had a positive influence on Covid-19 preventive measures uptake leading to social lifestyle changes orchestrated by uptake of the Covid -19 protocols. Smailhodzic et al (2016) showed in their systematic review that social media exposure effected lifestyle changes among their studied subjects (who were patients) in the areas of disease management and control.…”