scholarly journals Information sources of Brazilian undergraduate dental students during the COVID-19 outbreak

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. e213961
Author(s):  
Maria Gerusa Brito Aragão ◽  
Francisco Isaac Fernandes Gomes ◽  
Letícia Pinho Maia Paixão de Melo ◽  
Camila Siqueira Silva Coelho ◽  
Silmara Aaparecida Milori Corona
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Government Official ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Frequency Distributions

Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate where Brazilian dental students seek information about COVID-19 by a self-administered web-based questionnaire. Methods: A social network campaign on Instagram was raised to approach the target population. The dental students responded to a multiple-response question asking where or with whom they get information about COVID-19. The possible answers were government official websites or health and education institutions websites, TV Programs, professors, social media, scientific articles, health professionals, and family members. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and the frequency distributions of responses were evaluated by gender, age, type of institution, and year of enrollment. Results: A total of 833 valid responses were received. The main source of information used by the dental students were government official websites or health and education institutions websites, which were reported by 739 (88.7%) participants. In the sequence, 477 (57.3%) participants chose health professionals while 468 (56.2%) chose scientific articles as information sources. The use of social media was reported by 451 (54.1%) students, while TV programs were information sources used by 332 (39.9%) students. The least used information sources were professors, reported by 317 (38.1%) students, and family members, chosen only by 65 (7.8%) participants. Conclusion: Brazilian dental students rely on multiple information sources to stay informed about COVID-19, mainly focusing their information-seeking behavior on governmental and health professional’s websites.

scholarly journals Where do Brazilian dental students seek information about COVID-19?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gerusa Brito Aragao ◽  
Francisco Isaac Fernandes Gomes ◽  
Camila Siqueira Silva Coelho ◽  
Leticia Pinho Maia Paixao de Melo ◽  
Silmara Aparecida Milori Corona
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Government Official ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
School Directors ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Objective: We investigated where Brazilian dental students seek information about COVID-19 by a self-administered web-based questionnaire. Methods: A social network campaign on Instagram was raised to approach the target population. The dental students responded to a multiple-response question asking where they get information about COVID-19. The possible answers were government official websites or health and education institutions websites, TV Programs, professors, social media, scientific articles, other health professionals, and family members. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and frequency distributions of responses were evaluated by gender, age, type of institution, and year of enrollment. Results: A total of 833 valid responses were received. The main source of information used by the dental students were government official websites or health and education institutions websites (88.7%), other health professionals (57.3%), and scientific articles (56.2%). The use of social media was reported by 54.1% of the students, while TV programs were information sources used by 39.9% of the students. The least used information sources were professors (38.1%) and family members (7.8%). Conclusions: The respondents seem to be acquainted to seek information in reliable sources and also use social media as a gateway to keep updated about the pandemics. Therefore, knowing where the dental students seek information about COVID-19 might facilitate dental school directors to approach such public continuously, providing them with trustable information on different platforms.

scholarly journals Ethnicity matters in perceived impacts and information sources of COVID-19 among mothers with young children in Australia: a cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. e050557
Author(s):  
Li Ming Wen ◽  
Huilan Xu ◽  
Danielle Jawad ◽  
Limin Buchanan ◽  
Chris Rissel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
English Speaking

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate perceived impacts, ways of communication with professionals and information sources related to COVID-19, and explore whether these impacts or information sources were associated with ethnicity that is, language spoken at home.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingSydney, Australia during the period from March to October 2020.ParticipantsMothers of young children participating in an existing trial.Outcome measuresMothers were asked to respond to a set of survey questions related to COVID-19 via telephone. The questions included a mental health scale, and how they communicated with health professionals and their information sources related to COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.ResultsOf 537 mothers who completed the survey (81% response rate), 45% reported they spoke a language other than English at home. Overall, 136 (26%) reported experiencing mental distress. 234 (44%) reported that COVID-19 affected the way they receive and communicate health-related information with health professionals, especially for those from non-English speaking backgrounds with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.58 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.27). They were less likely to use a face-to-face service (AOR 0.55, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.80) and more likely to use social media (AOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.40 to 3.17) for health-related information. Regarding sources of COVID-19-related information, mothers from non-English-speaking backgrounds were more likely to rely on family members (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.19) and social media (AOR 3.34, 95% CI 2.05 to 5.43).ConclusionsCOVID-19 has significantly impacted mothers with young children in regard to their mental health, means of communication with health professionals and sources of health information. Mothers from non-English-speaking communities were less likely to use a face-to-face service, and more likely to seek information from family members and social media. Appropriate health support for non-English-speaking community needs to take these factors into account.Trial registration numberANZCTR:12618001571268.they

Instagramming our way through public health communication: why and who is using it?

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Vareda ◽  
T Garcia ◽  
J Rachadell
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Healthy Lifestyles ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases

Abstract Background From disease prevention to health promotion, communication is key for Public Health (PH) practice and, according to the 9th Essential Public Health Operation its goal is to improve populations health literacy and capacity to access, understand and use information. Though social media is frequently presented as a potentially useful tool for PH communication, there is a lack of evidence about its effectiveness and impact on PH outcomes. This study researches Instagram® as a PH tool and aims to know who is using it, what content is shared on the platform and how much engagement there is. Methods This cross-sectional study regards information on 1000 Instagram® posts with the hashtags publichealth, publichealthpromotion, healthpromotion, publichealthmatters and publichealtheducation. Authors categorized post content and creators, and reviewed the number of likes and comments per post to determine engagement. Data analysis was performed on IBM SPSS® Statistics. Results The most common content categories were communicable diseases (n = 383), non-communicable diseases (n = 258) and healthy lifestyles (n = 143). Health professionals post more about communicable diseases (43,6%) and non-professionals about healthy lifestyles (36,1%). Non-professionals (n = 191) post about PH issues almost as much as health professionals (n = 220) and PH associations (n = 201). Most don't reference their sources (n = 821). Posts on communicable diseases have the most likes and comments per post (mean of 172 likes and 3,1 comments). Conclusions Half the Instagram® posts analysed in this study were made by health professionals or organizations. Communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and healthy lifestyles were the most frequent content categories and had the most engagement. The majority of posts didn't reference their sources. Though Instagram® seems to be a potential PH communication tool, further research is needed to confirm its benefits for PH. Key messages Social media platforms like Instagram® are potentially powerful tools for PH communication. There is a need to understand the efficacy of social media as health promotion tools.

Should I post this on Instagram?: Contrasting Social Media Use between Young adults with IBD and Type 1 Diabetes (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susruthi Rajanala ◽  
Jennifer Wilson ◽  
Paul Mitchell ◽  
Katharine Garvey ◽  
Laurie Fishman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Type 1 Diabetes ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Disease Information ◽  
Media Habits

BACKGROUND There is increasing focus on social media usage among young adult patients. OBJECTIVE This study aims to understand and compare the social media habits of youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and type 1 diabetes (T1D). METHODS This is a cross-sectional study of subjects from Boston Children’s Hospital outpatient IBD and diabetes clinics. Patients over the age of 18 were invited to complete a brief anonymous survey, which asked about the various ways they use several social media platforms. RESULTS A total of 108 patients were included evenly split across disease type. Eighty-three percent of participants spent at least 30 minutes per day on social media, most commonly on Instagram and Facebook. While the content varied based on the platform, patients with IBD posted or shared content related to their disease significantly less than those with T1D (38% vs 23%, P=0.02) Among Instagram users, IBD patients were less likely to engage with support groups (22% vs 56%, P=0.04). Among Twitter users, IBD patients were less likely to seek disease information (77% vs 29%, P=0.005) Among Facebook users, IBD patients were less likely to post about research and clinical trials (31% vs 65%, P=0.04) or for information seeking (49% vs 87%, P=0.003), IBD patients were also less likely to share their diagnosis with friends or family in person. CONCLUSIONS Young adults with IBD were less willing to share diagnosis, post or explore disease on social media. This could lead to a sense of isolation and should be further explored.

scholarly journals The awareness of amblyopia among parents in Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 251584141986810
Author(s):  
Ali M. Alsaqr ◽  
Ali M. Masmali
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
The Media ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Eye Clinic

Purpose: Amblyopia is the most common cause of unilateral visual impairment. This study investigated parents’ awareness of amblyopia in different regions of Saudi Arabia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional population study. The survey consisted of two main sections; the first section contained 13 general background questions, and the second section (10 questions) focused on awareness of amblyopia, routine vision checks and how to raise awareness of amblyopia in the community. The survey was distributed to respondents using email and social media. Results: The responses of 1649 families were received. Respondents’ age range was from 22–62 years (mean ± standard deviation = 33.6 ± 8.7 years). Most respondents had no previous knowledge of amblyopia (1155 participants, 70%), and 313 participants (19%) had no idea if their children had amblyopia. In total, 990 participants (60%) did not visit the eye clinic with their children for a routine eye exam. A total of 495 parents (30%), who were aware of amblyopia, knew of it mainly from eye clinic visits and from Internet websites. A total of 140 respondents reported that their children had amblyopia; 58.3% of those children underwent routine eye examinations once a year, and the rest underwent routine eye examinations twice a year. Conclusion: The results clearly showed a lack of amblyopia awareness among the Saudi community. This lack of awareness can lead to visual impairment among children. More efficient efforts are urgently needed from health professionals, education centres, the media and social organizations to promote awareness of amblyopia.

scholarly journals Use of information sources regarding medicine side effects among the general population: a cross-sectional survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadine O’Donovan ◽  
Ruth M. Rodgers ◽  
Anthony R. Cox ◽  
Janet Krska
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Side Effect ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Information Leaflets ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Use Of Information Sources

Abstract Aim: To determine the use and perceived value of different information sources that patients may use to support identification of medicine side effects; to explore associations between coping styles and use of information sources. Background: Side effects from medicines can have considerable negative impact on peoples’ daily lives. As a result of an ageing UK population and attendant multi-morbidity, an increasing number of medicines are being prescribed for patients, leading to increased risk of unintended side effects. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of patients who use medicine, recruited from community pharmacies. The survey sought views on attributes of various information sources, their predicted and actual use, incorporating a shortened Side Effects Coping Questionnaire (SECope) scale and the abbreviated Miller Behavioural Style Scale (MBSS). Findings: Of 935 questionnaires distributed, 230 (25.0%) were returned, 61.3% from females; 44.7% were retired and 84.6% used at least one medicine regularly. 69.6% had experienced a side effect, resulting in 57.5% of these stopping the medicine. Patient information leaflets (PILs) and GPs were both predicted and actually most widely used sources, despite GPs being judged as relatively less accessible and PILs less trustworthy, particularly by regular medicine users. Pharmacists, considered both easy to access and trustworthy, were used by few in practice, while the internet was considered easy to access, but less trustworthy and was also little used. SECope sub-scales for non-adherence and information seeking showed positive associations with stopping a medicine and seeking information from a health professional. More high monitors than low monitors stopped a medicine themselves, but there were no differences in use of information sources. Information seeking following a side effect is a common strategy, potentially predicted by the SECope, but not the MBSS. Limited GP accessibility could contribute to high internet use. Further research could determine how the trustworthiness of PILs can be improved.

scholarly journals Health Information Seeking Behaviors on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among American Social Networking Site Users: Survey Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Neely ◽  
Christina Eldredge ◽  
Ron Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Health Consumers

BACKGROUND In recent years, medical journals have emphasized the increasingly critical role that social media plays in the dissemination of public health information and disease prevention guidelines. However, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter continue to pose unique challenges for clinical health care providers and public health officials alike. In order to effectively communicate during public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is increasingly critical for health care providers and public health officials to understand how patients gather health-related information on the internet and adjudicate the merits of such information. OBJECTIVE With that goal in mind, we conducted a survey of 1003 US-based adults to better understand how health consumers have used social media to learn and stay informed about the COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which they have relied on credible scientific information sources, and how they have gone about fact-checking pandemic-related information. METHODS A web-based survey was conducted with a sample that was purchased through an industry-leading market research provider. The results were reported with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 3. Participants included 1003 US-based adults (aged ≥18 years). Participants were selected via a stratified quota sampling approach to ensure that the sample was representative of the US population. Balanced quotas were determined (by region of the country) for gender, age, race, and ethnicity. RESULTS The results showed a heavy reliance on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic; more than three-quarters of respondents (762/1003, 76%) reported that they have relied on social media at least “a little,” and 59.2% (594/1003) of respondents indicated that they read information about COVID-19 on social media at least once per week. According to the findings, most social media users (638/1003, 63.6%) were unlikely to fact-check what they see on the internet with a health professional, despite the high levels of mistrust in the accuracy of COVID-19–related information on social media. We also found a greater likelihood of undergoing vaccination among those following more credible scientific sources on social media during the pandemic (<i>χ</i><sup>2</sup><sub>16</sub>=50.790; <i>φ</i>=0.258; <i>P</i><.001). CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that health professionals will need to be both strategic and proactive when engaging with health consumers on social media if they hope to counteract the deleterious effects of misinformation and disinformation. Effective training, institutional support, and proactive collaboration can help health professionals adapt to the evolving patterns of health information seeking.

scholarly journals Assessment of Educational Status of Periodontics and Oral Health and Community Dentistry Departments in Yazd Dental School Using CIPP Model in 2018

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahimeh Rashidi Maybodi ◽  
Ameneh Hosseini-Yekani ◽  
Nafiseh Golshahi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Educational Status ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Dental School ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Dental Public Health ◽  
Cross Sectional

Introduction: Considering the changes, which implemented in the dental education program in recent years and also the importance of reviewing their feedback in educational affairs, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the periodontics and dental public health departments of Dental School based on the CIPP evaluation model in 2018. Methods: The present study was performed in a descriptive cross-sectional format on the target population of dental students of 10-12 semesters and professors of the mentioned groups. Context, input, process and product were assessed using a questionnaire consistent with the CIPP pattern checklist. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and T-test via SPSS 16 software. Results: The average scores of professors and students in different areas of the Periodontology Department were as followed: the context (75, 58.6); input (18.9, 1.37); process (68.7, 8.37) and product (56.2, 1.37) fields, respectively. In the Dental Public Health Department, the average scores also included context (50, 3.64); input (25, 5.63); process (100, 58) and product (75, 3.58) areas, respectively. Conclusion: In the Department of Periodontics, the input as well as process and output were undesirable for the students and the input was undesirable for the professors. In the Dental Public Health Department, just input was unfavorable for professors and relatively desirable for students in all four areas.    

scholarly journals Digital health literacy and online information seeking in times of COVID-19. A cross-sectional survey among university students in Germany (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dadaczynski ◽  
Orkan Okan ◽  
Melanie Messer ◽  
Angela Y. M. Leung ◽  
Rafaela Rosário ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
University Students ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Online Information Seeking

BACKGROUND Digital communication technologies play an important role in governments’ and public health authorities’ health communication strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The internet and social media have become important sources of health-related information on the coronavirus and on protective behaviours. In addition, the COVID-19 infodemic spreads faster than the coronavirus itself, which interferes with governmental health-related communication efforts. This puts national public health containment strategies in jeopardy. Therefore, digital health literacy is a key competence to navigate coronavirus-related information and service environments. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate university students’ digital health literacy and online information seeking behaviours during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany. METHODS A cross-sectional study among N=14,916 university students aged ≥18 from 130 universities across all sixteen federal states of Germany was conducted using an online survey. Along with sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, subjective social status) measures included five subscales from the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI), which was adapted to the specific coronavirus context. Online information seeking behaviour was investigated by examining the online sources used by university students and the topics that students search for in connection with the coronavirus. Data were analysed using univariate and bivariate analyses. RESULTS Across digital health literacy dimensions, the greatest difficulties could be found for assessing the reliability of health-related information (42.3%) and the ability to determine whether the information was written with commercial interest (38.9%). Moreover, respondents also indicated that they most frequently have problems finding the information they are looking for (30.4%). When stratified according to sociodemographic characteristics, significant differences were found with female university students reporting a lower DHLI for the dimensions of ‘information searching’ and of ‘evaluating reliability’. Search engines, news portals and public bodies’ websites were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for information on COVID-19 and related issues. Female students were found to use social media and health portals more frequently, while male students used Wikipedia and other online encyclopaedias as well as YouTube more often. The use of social media was associated with a low ability to critically evaluate information, while opposite differences were observed for the use of public websites. CONCLUSIONS Although digital health literacy is, in summary, well developed in university students, a significant proportion of students still face difficulties with certain abilities to deal with information. There is need to strengthen the digital health literacy capacities of university students using tailored interventions. Improving the quality of health-related information on the internet is also key. CLINICALTRIAL

Differences Between Races in Health Information Seeking and Trust Over Time: Evidence From a Cross-Sectional, Pooled Analyses of HINTS Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naleef Fareed ◽  
Christine M. Swoboda ◽  
Pallavi Jonnalagadda ◽  
Daniel M. Walker ◽  
Timothy R. Huerta
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
High Confidence ◽  
Charitable Organizations ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional

Purpose: Assessed racial disparities in health information-seeking behavior and trust of information sources from 2007 to 2017. Design: Pooled cross-sectional survey data. Setting: Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Participation: Data included 6 iterations of HINTS (pooled: N = 19 496; 2007: n = 3593; 2011: n = 3959; 2013: n = 3185; Food and Drug Administration [FDA] 2015: n = 3738; 2017: n = 3285; and FDA 2017: n = 1736). Measures: Outcome variables were health information seeking, high confidence, and high trust of health information from several sources. Independent variable was race group, controlling for other sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables. Analysis: Weighted descriptive and multivariate logistic regression for the pooled sample assessed associations by race. Fully interacted models with race–survey year interactions compared differences in outcomes between years. Results: Black respondents, relative to white, had greater odds of having high confidence in their ability to attain health information, trust of health information from newspapers and magazines, radio, internet, television, government, charitable organizations, and religious organizations. Hispanic respondents, relative to white, had lower odds of seeking health information and trusting health information from doctors. They had higher odds of trusting health information from the radio, the internet, television, charitable organizations, and religious organizations. Conclusion: Disparities between races in trust of information sources remained across time. Understanding optimal information media, their reach, and credibility among racial groups could enable more targeted approaches to developing interventions. Our analytical approach minimized limitations present in the HINTS.

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