The Factors Influencing Pregnant Women’s Selection of Media Sources to Obtain Information on COVID-19 in Japan in 2021

Abstract

Pregnant women presumably gather information about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from various sources. However, it is difficult for pregnant women who are not medical professionals to source the appropriate information because of the infodemic related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the objective of our study was to investigate how pregnant women gathered information about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination. To address this issue, we conducted an online questionnaire survey between 5 October and 22 November 2021, which was approved by the Ethics Committee of Nihon University School of Medicine. We received 4962 responses after excluding 1179 insufficient answers. Our study found that age, occupation, and infection-risk anxiety influenced the selection of media for obtaining information. Pregnant women who were older, medical professionals, public servants, or educators tended to rely on specialized medical websites, whereas housewives tended to use mass media, social media, and sources with uncertain scientific evidence. Additionally, the number of weeks of gestation and the method of conception (natural or assisted reproductive conception) affected the selection of media. The accessibility of COVID-19 information for pregnant women was determined by their social background and pregnancy status. We need to continue making efforts to ensure that appropriate information is readily available to pregnant women and their families.

A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes, Acceptance, and Hesitancy of Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women towards the COVID-19 Vaccine

“…According to our review, official sources used to retrieve information on COVID-19 vaccine were associated with a positive attitude [ 19 ]. On the contrary, women who rely on non-scientific social media for vaccine-related information are often characterized by higher levels of anxiety regarding both infection and vaccine risks [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”