JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered stigmatic attitudes against healthcare workers. Some forms of social media may play a role in disseminating stigmatizing messages.

Objective:

To investigate the association between COVID-19 information sources and stigma against healthcare workers among college students during the pandemic.

Methods:

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using an online platform in the Tohoku region of Japan. College students aged 20 years or older were asked to complete the questionnaire between August 18 and October 31, 2020. Stigma against healthcare workers was evaluated using a modified Japanese version of the Social Distance Scale (SDSJ). Participants were also asked to rate their perceived vulnerability to infection using the Japanese version of the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD) scale.

Results:

A total of 281 students from eight colleges completed the online survey. There were 139 (49.5%) participants who used Twitter, 187 (66.5%) participants who used news websites, and 46 (16.4%) participants who used websites of public health agencies as COVID-19 information sources. After adjusting for age, sex, department, and PVD scores, the level of stigma did not differ between students using Twitter and those who did not. Students who used websites of public health agencies showed a significantly less stigmatic attitude than those who did not.

Conclusions:

Fact-checking and directing visitors to credible information sources from public health agencies may have prevented the formation of stigmatic attitudes toward healthcare workers. An effective strategy to enable easy access to information provided by public agencies should be integrated into widespread online platforms. Clinical Trial: None.