COVID-19 Information-Seeking, Health Literacy, and Worry and Anxiety During the Early Stage of the Pandemic in Switzerland: A Cross-Sectional Study.
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BORIS DOI
Date of Publication
August 9, 2022
Publication Type
Article
Division/Institute
Author
Ilic, Anica | |
Roser, Katharina | |
Baenziger, Julia | |
Dyntar, Daniela | |
Michel, Gisela |
Series
International journal of public health
ISSN or ISBN (if monograph)
1661-8564
Publisher
Frontiers
Language
English
Publisher DOI
PubMed ID
36016963
Uncontrolled Keywords
Description
Objectives: To describe COVID-19 information-seeking behavior (CISB) during the first stage of the pandemic in Switzerland and identify its determinants. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey (4 May to 6 July 2020). Participants self-reported their CISB (information sources and frequency), personal COVID-19 situation (e.g., perception about having had COVID-19), sociodemographic information, and completed validated measures of health literacy, and worry and anxiety. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regressions. Results: We included 1,505 participants (24.7% male; mean age = 43.0 years, SD = 13.9). Most participants reported searching for information daily (n = 1,023, 68.0%) and referring to multiple information sources (mean 3.7, SD = 1.5). Commonly used sources were official websites (n = 1,129, 75.0%) and newspapers (n = 997, 66.2%). Participants with higher health literacy were more likely to seek information daily and use online resources, but less likely to use personal networks than those with lower health literacy. We did not find any association between CISB and worry and anxiety. Conclusion: More opportunities for personal dialogue and education about reliable online information resources should be encouraged to optimize the CISB of groups with lower health literacy.
File(s)
File | File Type | Format | Size | License | Publisher/Copright statement | Content | |
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ijph-67-1604717.pdf | text | Adobe PDF | 813.78 KB | published |