Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Jul 8, 2020
Date Accepted: Aug 17, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jan 11, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
COVID-19 Infodemiology in Nigeria- Predictors of Sources and Perceived accuracy: An online cross-sectional study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Effective communication is critical in mitigating the public health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Objective:
This study assesses the source(s) of COVID-19 Information among Nigerians, predictors and the perceived accuracy of information from these sources.
Methods:
We conducted an online survey on consenting adults residing in Nigeria between April and May 2020 during the lockdown and first wave of COVID-19. The major sources of information about COVID-19 were distilled from seven potential sources (family or friends; place of worship; health care providers; internet; work-place; traditional media and public posters/ banners). An open-ended question was asked to explore how respondents determined the accuracy of information. Statistical analysis was done using STATA 15.0 software (StataCorp Texas) with significance placed at p-value <0.05. Approval was obtained for the conduct of this study from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ethical Committee.
Results:
A total of 719 respondents completed the survey. Most of the respondents (89.3%) obtained COVID-19 related information from the internet. About 85.8% considered their source(s) of information as accurate; and 32.6% depended on only one out of the seven potential sources of COVID-19 information. Respondents earning a monthly income between NGN 70,000-120,000 had lower odds of obtaining COVID-19 information from the internet compared to respondents earning less than NGN 20,000 (OR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.24,0.98; p: 0.04). Also, a significant proportion of respondents sought accurate information from recognized health organisations, such as, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Conclusions:
The internet was the most common source of COVID-19 information, and the population sampled had a relatively high level of perceived accuracy for the COVID-19 information received. Effective communication requires dissemination of information via credible communication channels, as identified from this study. This is potentially beneficial for risk communication in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Trial: NA
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