Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study
BackgroundClear, accurate, and transparent risk communication is critical to providing policy makers and the public with directions to effectively implement public health strategies during a health emergency. ObjectiveWe aimed to explore the public’s preferred sou...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2023-06-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e38323 |
| _version_ | 1797734074097336320 |
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| author | Christine Fahim Jeanette Cooper Suvabna Theivendrampillai Ba' Pham Sharon Straus |
| author_facet | Christine Fahim Jeanette Cooper Suvabna Theivendrampillai Ba' Pham Sharon Straus |
| author_sort | Christine Fahim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundClear, accurate, and transparent risk communication is critical to providing policy makers and the public with directions to effectively implement public health strategies during a health emergency.
ObjectiveWe aimed to explore the public’s preferred sources of obtaining COVID-19 information, perceptions on the prevalence and drivers of misinformation during the pandemic, and suggestions to optimize health communications during future public health emergencies.
MethodsWe administered a web-based survey that included Likert scale, multiple choice and open-ended response questions to residents of Ontario, Canada. We aimed to recruit a sample that reflected population diversity with respect to age and gender. Data were collected between June 10, 2020, and December 31, 2020, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics; open-ended data were analyzed using content analysis. Subgroup analyses to explore perceptions by age and gender were conducted using ordinal regression.
ResultsA total of 1823 individuals participated in the survey (n=990, 54% women; n=703, 39% men; n=982, 54% aged 18-40 years; n=518, 28% aged 41-60 years; and n=215, 12% aged ≥61 years). Participants most commonly obtained COVID-19 information from local television news (n=1118, 61%) followed by social media (n=938, 51%), national or international television news (n=888, 49%), and friends and family (n=835, 46%). Approximately 55% (n=1010) of the participants believed they had encountered COVID-19–related misinformation; 70% (n=1284) of the participants reported high levels of trust in health authority websites and health care providers; 66% (n=1211) reported high levels of trust in health ministers or public health organizations. Sources perceived to be less trustworthy included friends and family, talk radio, social media, as well as blogs and opinion websites. Men were more likely to report encountering misinformation and to trust friends or family (odds ratio [OR] 1.49, 95% CI 1.24-1.79) and blogs or opinion websites (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.03-1.50), compared to women. Compared to those aged 18-40 years, participants aged ≥41years were more likely to trust all assessed information sources, with the exception of web-based media sources, and less likely to report encountering misinformation. Of those surveyed, 58% (n=1053) had challenges identifying or appraising COVID-19 information.
ConclusionsOver half of our participants perceived that they had encountered COVID-19 misinformation, and 58% had challenges identifying or appraising COVID-19 information. Gender and age differences in perceptions of misinformation and trust in information sources were observed. Future research to confirm the validity of these perceptions and to explore information-seeking patterns by population subgroups may provide useful insights on how to optimize health communication during public health emergencies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:38:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-134cd7110ba74eaa9fdc0536004a50a3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:38:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-134cd7110ba74eaa9fdc0536004a50a32023-08-29T00:00:20ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2023-06-017e3832310.2196/38323Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey StudyChristine Fahimhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6809-7027Jeanette Cooperhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5027-6334Suvabna Theivendrampillaihttps://orcid.org/0009-0008-4959-0415Ba' Phamhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1738-3485Sharon Straushttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6106-832X BackgroundClear, accurate, and transparent risk communication is critical to providing policy makers and the public with directions to effectively implement public health strategies during a health emergency. ObjectiveWe aimed to explore the public’s preferred sources of obtaining COVID-19 information, perceptions on the prevalence and drivers of misinformation during the pandemic, and suggestions to optimize health communications during future public health emergencies. MethodsWe administered a web-based survey that included Likert scale, multiple choice and open-ended response questions to residents of Ontario, Canada. We aimed to recruit a sample that reflected population diversity with respect to age and gender. Data were collected between June 10, 2020, and December 31, 2020, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics; open-ended data were analyzed using content analysis. Subgroup analyses to explore perceptions by age and gender were conducted using ordinal regression. ResultsA total of 1823 individuals participated in the survey (n=990, 54% women; n=703, 39% men; n=982, 54% aged 18-40 years; n=518, 28% aged 41-60 years; and n=215, 12% aged ≥61 years). Participants most commonly obtained COVID-19 information from local television news (n=1118, 61%) followed by social media (n=938, 51%), national or international television news (n=888, 49%), and friends and family (n=835, 46%). Approximately 55% (n=1010) of the participants believed they had encountered COVID-19–related misinformation; 70% (n=1284) of the participants reported high levels of trust in health authority websites and health care providers; 66% (n=1211) reported high levels of trust in health ministers or public health organizations. Sources perceived to be less trustworthy included friends and family, talk radio, social media, as well as blogs and opinion websites. Men were more likely to report encountering misinformation and to trust friends or family (odds ratio [OR] 1.49, 95% CI 1.24-1.79) and blogs or opinion websites (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.03-1.50), compared to women. Compared to those aged 18-40 years, participants aged ≥41years were more likely to trust all assessed information sources, with the exception of web-based media sources, and less likely to report encountering misinformation. Of those surveyed, 58% (n=1053) had challenges identifying or appraising COVID-19 information. ConclusionsOver half of our participants perceived that they had encountered COVID-19 misinformation, and 58% had challenges identifying or appraising COVID-19 information. Gender and age differences in perceptions of misinformation and trust in information sources were observed. Future research to confirm the validity of these perceptions and to explore information-seeking patterns by population subgroups may provide useful insights on how to optimize health communication during public health emergencies.https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e38323 |
| spellingShingle | Christine Fahim Jeanette Cooper Suvabna Theivendrampillai Ba' Pham Sharon Straus Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study |
| title_full | Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study |
| title_fullStr | Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study |
| title_short | Ontarians’ Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study |
| title_sort | ontarians perceptions of public health communications and misinformation during the covid 19 pandemic survey study |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e38323 |
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