Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.; Department of Network and New Media, College of Humanities and Arts, Hunan International Economics University, Changsha, China.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has put everyone in an urgent need of accessing and comprehending health information online. Meanwhile, there has been vast amount of information/misinformation/disinformation generated over the Internet, particularly social media platforms, resulting in an infodemic. This public health crisis of COVID-19 pandemic has put each individual and the entire society in a test: what is the level of eHealth literacy is needed to seek accurate health information from online resources and to combat infodemic during a pandemic? This article aims to summarize the significances and challenges of improving eHealth literacy in both communicable (e.g., COVID-19) and non-communicable diseases [e.g., cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)]. Also, this article will make our recommendations of a general framework of AI-based approaches to improving eHealth literacy and combating infodemic, including AI-augmented lifelong learning, AI-assisted

2021-10-18

Prevention Insights, Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health Bloomington, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States.; Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States.; Indiana University Media School, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States.; Biostatistics Consulting Center, School of Public Health Bloomington, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States.; Biostatistics Consulting Center, School of Public Health Bloomington, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States.

BACKGROUND: Trust in science meaningfully contributes to our understanding of people's belief in misinformation and their intentions to take actions to prevent COVID-19. However, no experimental research has sought to intervene on this variable to develop a scalable response to the COVID-19 infodemic. OBJECTIVE: Our study examined whether brief exposure to an infographic about the scientific process might increase trust in science and thereby affect belief in misinformation and intention to take preventive actions for COVID-19. METHODS: This two-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial aimed to recruit a US representative sample of 1000 adults by age, race/ethnicity, and gender using the Prolific platform. Participants were randomly assigned to view either an intervention infographic about the scientific process or a control infographic. The intervention infographic was designed through a separate pilot study. Primary outcomes were trust in science, COVID-19 narrative belief

2021-09-21

School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.; China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.; Institute of Cultural Innovation and Youth Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.; School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.; Institute of Cultural Innovation and Youth Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Introduction: Every outbreak of an epidemic or pandemic disease is accompanied by the tsunami of information, which is also known as the infodemic. Infodemic makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it, and causes social panic about health, widens the gaps between races and regions, and even brings the social chaos all over the world. While most researchers and related parties made efforts to control the inaccurate information spreading online during the COVID-19 pandemic, the infodemic influence caused by the overload of accurate information were almost or completely ignored, and this will hinder the control of infodemic in future public health crises. This study aims to explore the infodemic vs. pandemic influence on people's psychological anxiety across different media sources in the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study using online survey method was conducted by a data-collection service

2021-09-12

College of Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.; College of Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.; Department of Communication, University of Macau, Macau, China.

A growing body of scientific studies has been published to inform responses to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and some have claimed that cigarette smoking has a beneficial or mixed effect on the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The presentation of such findings, unfortunately, has created an infodemic. This study integrated the theory of planned behavior and the health belief model and incorporated findings on addiction from the medical literature to predict cessation intention and support for tobacco control measures in the context of the COVID-19 infodemic. The study found that cessation intention partially mediated the effect of perceived severity and fully mediated the effects of perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and addiction on support for control measures. In addition, a positively-valenced message of the effect of smoking on the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 vs. a mixedly-valenced message was significant in predicting cessation intention, and the

2021-08-10

Department of Library & Information Science, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan.; Information Management School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.

Low digital health literacy affects large percentages of populations around the world and is a direct contributor to the spread of COVID-19-related online misinformation (together with bots). The ease and 'viral' nature of social media sharing further complicate the situation. This paper provides a quick overview of the magnitude of the problem of COVID-19 misinformation on social media, its devastating effects, and its intricate relation to digital health literacy. The main strategies, methods and services that can be used to detect and prevent the spread of COVID-19 misinformation, including machine learning-based approaches, health literacy guidelines, checklists, mythbusters and fact-checkers, are then briefly reviewed. Given the complexity of the COVID-19 infodemic, it is very unlikely that any of these approaches or tools will be fully effective alone in stopping the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. Instead, a mixed, synergistic approach, combining the best of these strategies

2021-07-28

Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Pécs, Rókus Street 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.; Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Pécs, Rókus Street 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.; Department of Operational Medicine, University of Pécs, Medical School, Szigeti Street 12, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.; Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Pécs, Rókus Street 2, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related infodemic generated confusion and increased demand of various pharmaceuticals, ushering in the opportunity for illicit online vendors to fill a gap in the marketplace using potentially dangerous products. The aim of our study is to provide evidence regarding increased demand, online availability and consumer accessibility of ivermectin, an anthelmintic agent, without substantiated indications in reference to SARS-CoV-2. In our study, we combined infodemiology methodology aligned with search engine result assessment and website analytics to evaluate patient safety risks. Users' Google queries regarding ivermectin were trending and peaked during the last week of November 2020 and March 2021. Consumers more likely found links leading directly or indirectly (via redirection) to illegal online retailers representing nearly half (53.3%) of search engine result links regarding the first three result pages in December 2020 and topped off at 73.3% by March

2021-05-04

Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 Xue Yuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.; Institute for Global Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 Xue Yuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.; Institute for Global Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.; Global Health Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Health Sciences, Peking University, P.O. Box 166, Lilongwe 265, Malawi.; Department of Economics, HSBC Business School, Peking University, University Town, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518055, China.; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 Xue Yuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.; Institute for Global Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 Xue Yuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.; Institute for Global Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.

INTRODUCTION: It is well-recognized that containing COVID-19 successfully is determined by people's prevention measures which are related to their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). This perception has attracted attention in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) due to their fragile health systems and economies. The objective of this study was to understand how residents in Malawi perceived COVID-19, to determine the factors related to KAP. METHODS: A semi-structured questionnaire was used for the data collection. A field-based survey was conducted among adult residents in Lilongwe, Malawi. Descriptive statistic, linear regression, the Chi-square test, and Pearson's correlation statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 580 questionnaires were involved. The mean knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) scores were 10 (SD = ±3, range: 3-19), 16 (SD = ±4, range: 5-25), and 2 (SD = ±1, range: 0-5), respectively. Lack of money and resources (39%) was the biggest

2021-10-17

Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, School of Specialization in Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, School of Specialization in Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, School of Specialization in Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, School of Specialization in Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Section of Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Largo del Pozzo 7, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Department of Law, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, Italy.; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, School of Specialization in Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Section of Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Largo del Pozzo 7, 41124 Modena, Italy.; Dipartimento di Salute Mentale e Dipendenze Patologiche, USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, 42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Since the emergence of the recent Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and its spread as a pandemic, there has been a parallel spread of false and misleading information, known as an infodemic. The COVID-19 infodemic has induced distrust in scientific communities, governments, institutions and the population, and a confidence crisis that has led to harmful health behaviours, also impacting on mental health. The aim of this study is to provide a scoping review of the scientific literature about COVID-19-related misinformation and conspiracy theories, focusing on the construction of a conceptual framework which is useful for the interpretation of the conspiracy theory phenomenon surrounding COVID-19, and its consequences. Particular socio-environmental conditions (i.e., low educational level, younger age), psychological processes and attitudes (such as low levels of epistemic trust, the avoidance of uncertainty, extraversion, collective narcissism, and a conspiracy-prone mindset), and

2021-09-08

School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.; Center for Health Communication, Moody College of Communication and Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.; School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.; Center for Health Communication, Moody College of Communication and Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.; School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.

BACKGROUND: Health misinformation is a public health concern. Various stakeholders have called on health care professionals, such as nurses and physicians, to be more proactive in correcting health misinformation on social media. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify US physicians' and nurses' motivations for correcting health misinformation on social media, the barriers they face in doing so, and their recommendations for overcoming such barriers. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 participants, which comprised 15 (50%) registered nurses and 15 (50%) physicians. Qualitative data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants were personally (eg, personal choice) and professionally (eg, to fulfill the responsibility of a health care professional) motivated to correct health misinformation on social media. However, they also faced intrapersonal (eg, a lack of positive outcomes and time), interpersonal (eg, harassment and bullying), and institutional (

2021-09-05

National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.; National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.; National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.; Department of Nursing and Health Science, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, 36037 Fulda, Germany.; Centre for Applied Health Science, Leuphana University Lueneburg, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany.; Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research, Faculty of Educational Science, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany.

The entire world is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also accompanied by an infodemic. This refers to the rapid spread of (accurate and false) information, mainly through internet usage increasing. Digital health literacy (DHL) is therefore important for addressing challenges related to online health information and services, as well as for navigation through the complex information landscape with huge amounts of different (and conflicting) information about COVID-19. The aim of this study is to examine the level of DHL in relation to COVID-19 in Slovenian university students and to determine online information-seeking behaviour in order to plan and prepare effective communication interventions for this sub-population. A cross-sectional survey, administered by an online questionnaire, was conducted to collect data on DHL. A total of 3621 students participated, of whom 70% were female and the average age was 22.65 years (SD = 4.65). Bivariate analyses were performed to assess