The Association between Types of COVID-19 Information Source and the Avoidance of Child Health Checkups in Japan: Findings from the JACSIS 2021 Study

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can affect children’s well-being through mothers’ avoidance of health checkups for children due to media portrayal of the disease. This study investigated the association between the type of information source for COVID-19 received by mothers and the avoidance of their children’s health checkups. The study was an online-based survey, and the participants comprised 5667 postpartum women with children aged under 2 years during the study period. We analyzed the analytic sample and three groups of women with children aged 0–3 months, 4–6 months, and 6 months or older according to the timing of children’s health checkups in Japan. Among the participants, 382 women (6.7%) avoided their children’s health checkups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that mothers with children over 6 months who used magazines as an information source about COVID-19 tended to avoid their children’s health checkups (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.68–6.05) compared with those who did not. In contrast, those using public websites were less likely to avoid their children’s health checkups (aOR 0.58, 95% CI 0.43–0.77). This study showed that specific types of information source on COVID-19 could have varying effects on mothers’ decisions about their children’s health checkups.

Construction of influencing factors model for public information avoidance behavior in major infectious disease outbreaks based on meta-ethnography

“…Based on the research themes, emotional states are more focused on psychologically negative or positive emotions. 12 original studies have consistent findings [ [43] , [44] , [45] , 48 , [51] , [52] , [53] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] ], all indicating that negative emotional states positively influence individual's information avoidance behavior, such as fear, worry, anxiety, sadness, anger, and agitation. When individuals are in these emotions, they reduce their trust in information media and perceive the need to take measures to maintain well-being, i.e., to avoid information.…”

“… Influencing factors of Information avoidance included subjective information norms, seeking attitudes, and risk perceptions, with subjective information norms being the strongest predictor of seeking and avoidance. Ojio(2022) [ 58 ] Explore the association between mothers receiving epidemic information from different information sources and avoidance of examination of their children. Based on a network questionnaire survey, participants included 5667 Japanese postpartum women with children under 2 years of age, and data were analyzed using logistic regression.…”

“…According to the “Information Literacy Competency Index System for Universities in Beijing Region”, information literacy includes information awareness, information needs, and information ethics. In this study, information literacy is reflected in the public's ability to assess the importance of information and decide which valuable information to consume through self-competence, and the possibility of information avoidance is reduced, as reflected in the eight original studies [ 39 , 43 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 52 , 55 , 58 ]. When the public has a weak ability to perceive information, has insufficient judgment about the quantity, quality, and content of information, and feels “incompetent to cope with the information environment,” they will actively avoid information in order to avoid certain consequences.…”

“…Information sources, as sources and providers of information, are also the main channels through which the public obtains information about external news and information during major infectious disease outbreaks [ 38 , 47 , 49 , 53 , 55 , 58 ]. Microblog, Twitter, radio, and magazines as information sources significantly increase the probability of information avoidance.…”