JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Transient migrants such as international students have received limited support from host-country governments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. An increase in misinformation, resulting in poor health outcomes for individuals, may impact an already vulnerable group.

Objective:

Existing research examines the spread of misinformation. Similarly, there is extensive literature on the health information behavior of international students. However, there is a gap in literature focusing on international students’ interactions with health misinformation. This exploratory research aims to address that gap by examining international students’ interactions with health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

11 participants were recruited to take part, through Zoom, in semi-structured interviews and a health misinformation-identification exercise. The data collected was subjected to qualitative thematic analysis. Multiple rounds of coding, checked by other coders, revealed two themes and six sub-themes.

Results:

Two main themes of approaches to dealing with health misinformation, and how international students navigate across multiple digital ecologies arose. Results show that for international students’ who draw on multiple digital ecologies for information, there may be a protective effect against health misinformation.

Conclusions:

Findings show international students encounter health misinformation across multiple digital ecologies and compare information across multiple ecologies. This comparison may support them in identifying health misinformation. Thus, findings combat narratives of international students’ susceptibility to misinformation.