Relation of corona-specific health literacy to use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic

BMC Public Health

Rebecca Jaks¹  Saskia Maria De Gani¹  Elena Guggiari²  Fabian Marc Pascal Berger² 

[1] Careum Foundation, Health Literacy Department, Pestalozzistrasse 3, 8032, Zurich, CH, Switzerland;Careum Foundation, Health Literacy Department, Pestalozzistrasse 3, 8032, Zurich, CH, Switzerland;Careum School of Health, Research Departmen, Gloriastrasse 18a, 8006, Zurich, CH, Switzerland;

关键词: Health literacy;    Coronavirus;    COVID-19;    Infodemic;    Information sources;    Trust;    Use of media;    Information seeking behavior;    Health information;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-12271-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCOVID-19 has developed into a worldwide pandemic which was accompanied by an «infodemic» consisting of much false and misleading information. To cope with these new challenges, health literacy plays an essential role. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a trend study in Switzerland on corona-specific health literacy, the use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their relationships.MethodsThree online surveys each with approximately 1′020 individuals living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (age ≥ 18 years) were conducted at different timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely spring, fall and winter 2020. For the assessment of corona-specific health literacy, a specifically developed instrument (HLS-COVID-Q22) was used. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate data analyses have been conducted.ResultsIn general, a majority of the Swiss-German population reported sufficient corona-specific health literacy levels which increased during the pandemic: 54.6% participants in spring, 62.4% in fall and 63.3% in winter 2020 had sufficient corona-specific health literacy. Greatest difficulties concerned the appraisal of health information on the coronavirus. The most used information sources were television (used by 73.3% in spring, 70% in fall and 72.3% in winter) and the internet (used by 64.1, 64.8 and 66.5%). Although health professionals, health authorities and the info-hotline were rarely mentioned as sources for information on the coronavirus, respondents had greatest trust in them. On the other hand, social media were considered as the least trustworthy information sources. Respondents generally reporting more trust in the various information sources, tended to have higher corona-specific health literacy levels.ConclusionsSufficient health literacy is an essential prerequisite for finding, understanding, appraising, and applying health recommendations, particularly in a situation where there is a rapid spread of a huge amount of information. The population should be supported in their capability in appraising the received information and in assessing the trustworthiness of different information sources.

【 授权许可】

CC BY