Relationship and Impact of Information Seeking Anxiety and Personality Traits on Health Information Seeking Behavior during COVID-19

Aim: To determine the intraoperative Ramsay sedation score after dexmedetomidine infusion in patients undergoing perineal surgery. Study design: Descriptive study. Place and duration of study: Department of Anaesthesia, JPMC, Karachi from 13th February 2021 to 13th August 2021. Methodology: One hundred and seventy four patients who met the diagnostic criteria were enrolled. Result(s): The mean age was 46.51 years with the standard deviation of +/-10.87. 66 (37.9%) were male and 108 (62.1%) were female. Whereas, mean duration of surgery, Ramsay sedation score at 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, height, weight and BMI in our study was 1.41+/-0.40 hours, 1.72+/-0.44, 3.51+/-0.60, 4.57+/-0.62, 165.62+/-8.23 cm, 68.34+/-8.23 kg and 24.85+/-3.34 kg/m2 respectively. Conclusion(s): Intraoperative dexmedetomidine proved beneficial in perineal surgeries and could be served as a potent sedative drug.Copyright © 2023 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.

Sociopsychological Factors Related to Information Seeking during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: To limit the risk of contracting the coronavirus, it is crucial for individuals to attain accurate COVID-19 related information. Once they are equipped with such information, they can engage in risk preventive behaviors. This study aimed to examine the sociopsychological factors predisposing individuals' information-seeking intentions. Method(s): Based on the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model, we hypothesized that individuals perceiving the risk of COVID-19 were likely to seek risk-related information through increased affective response (i.e., anxiety and fear) and information insufficiency. We considered perceived information gathering capacity as a moderator in the prediction of information-seeking intention. Using an online survey platform, study participants were recruited from US adults. Multivariate linear regressions were conducted in a hierarchical fashion while controlling for numerous covariates. Result(s): A total of 510 responses were included in our analyses. Respondents' mean age was 46.6+/-17.8 years;about half (53.3%) were females. Results showed that respondents' perceived risk provoked affective responses (regression coefficient (b) = 0.8417, 95% CI [0.7408, 0.9426]), which then increased self-perceived information insufficiency (b = 0.1857, 95% CI [0.0859, 0.2855]). This finding indicated that after perceiving the risk of coronavirus, individuals experienced worry and fear associated with the risk. Such affective responses made them realize that their current COVID-19 related knowledge was insufficient. Also, respondents who acknowledged information insufficiency were motivated to seek information about the coronavirus (b = 0.1099, 95% CI [0.0198, 0.1999]). The relation between information insufficiency and information-seeking intentions was moderated by perceived information gathering capacity (b = 0.0070, 95% CI [0.0001, 0.0151]), indicating that individuals with a higher capacity of gathering information were more likely to intend information seeking. Conclusion(s): Study findings suggest the importance of interventions to promote information seeking for individuals with a low information gathering capacity. Policy makers and clinicians assist the public in obtaining accurate information from reliable sources.Copyright © 2023

Attitude and Practices of self-medication among the students of Sialkot Medical College, Sialkot

Background: During covid-19 period not only general public was victim of anxiety besides all medical professional also face anxiety and change their Information seeking behaviour according their personality. Curiosity is in human nature with the easy access to internet the new horizon to information has been opened. People searching trends have shown that they are interested in health risk to health treatment for their health related problems. Aim(s): In this study examined the influences of anxiety (ISA) and Personality traits (PT) on health information seeking behaviour (HISB) among the Doctor, paraprofessional and final year medical students who are frontline worker during pandemic situation. Methodology: The study adopted survey method with non-probability convenience sampling to collect statistical. Questionnaires werefiled from 313 participants by utilizing convenient sampling and analyzing the data through SPSS. Result(s): The result showed that significant relation between personality traits, information seeking anxiety and health information seeking behaviour. In medical library user PT has significant impact on HISB (p<.05), (AVG_PT=.002) and ISA has impact on HISB but it is not significant in medical professional (beta -.070) value shows ISA has negative impact on HISB. Practical implication: This study will be beneficial for information professionals, health care workers, policy makers and administrators to access of information resources in hybrid format. Conclusion(s): Medical professional's plays an important role in our society. They work hard and served the nation during pandemic situation. Anxiety is natural phenomena to every person. So medical professional also feel anxietybut the medical profession demands its professionals to stay cool, calm and free of anxiety by having analytical and cognitive skills, in order to fulfill the needs of their profession. This research helps to understand that ISA has no significant impact on HISB while PT has significant impact on HISB.Copyright © 2023 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.

Pandemic Dining Dilemmas: Exploring the Determinants of Korean Consumer Dining-Out Behavior during COVID-19

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic's significant impact on the dining-out industry, this study examined factors influencing consumers' dining-out behavior changes using a unified theoretical framework based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and select components of the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model. A quantitative research method was employed, analyzing 536 valid survey responses collected in South Korea in early 2021 using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings showed that consumer attitude, perceived control, and subjective norm positively influenced dining-out intention, supporting the TPB. However, risk information-seeking behavior discourages dining-out behavior without significantly affecting intention. Fear emerged as a determinant of dining-out intention, risk information-seeking behavior, and dining-out behavior, highlighting the importance of emotions over rational thinking. This study contributes to existing literature by incorporating dining-out intention, COVID-19-related information-seeking behavior, and fear as key antecedents of dining-out behavior during the pandemic, while validating formative indicators that constitute risk information-seeking behavior and dining-out behavior in the research model.

Online News Coverage of COVID-19 Long Haul Symptoms.

A number of the people who have recovered from the acute effects of COVID-19 are facing long term sequelae from the infection. As the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving, so is knowledge of the long-term effects of the virus on patients who still experience symptoms. Clearly, news media play a crucial role in distributing information and this distribution of information can, in turn, influence the actions of the public. The purpose of this study was to describe the content of news coverage of COVID-19 long haul symptoms currently posted on the internet. This study utilized Google News, a news aggregator service, and included the first 100 English language pieces of news. Video content and news article content were coded in depth for information on COVID-19 long haul symptoms. A total of 41% of news reports mentioned the length of time that the COVID-19 related symptoms persist. The length of time was reported to range from 1 month to more than 1 year. The symptom most commonly mentioned was tiredness or fatigue (74%), followed by difficulty breathing or shortness of breath (62 cases; 62%), and difficulty thinking or concentrating (50 cases; 50%). Other symptoms were mentioned less frequently. There were no statistically significant differences in any of the content including having video, written news reports, or both video and written news reports by source of the news reports based on consumer, professional, or television or internet-based news (p = .14). More complete coverage by online news media of the long-term effects of COVID-19 enhances public awareness of the post-acute syndromes, augments health providers' awareness of the range of chronic COVID-19 effects and the possibility of a second infection, increases the probability of patients' seeking and obtaining the proper care for their symptoms, and contributes to preventive actions for enhancing public health.

Reddit and Google Activity Related to Non-COVID Epidemic Diseases Surged at Start of COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Resources such as Google Trends and Reddit provide opportunities to gauge real-time popular interest in public health issues. Despite the potential for these publicly available and free resources to help optimize public health campaigns, use for this purpose has been limited. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to determine whether early public awareness of COVID-19 correlated with elevated public interest in other infectious diseases of public health importance. METHODS: Google Trends search data and Reddit comment data were analyzed from 2018 through 2020 for the frequency of keywords "chikungunya," "Ebola," "H1N1," "MERS," "SARS," and "Zika," 6 highly publicized epidemic diseases in recent decades. After collecting Google Trends relative popularity scores for each of these 6 terms, unpaired 2-tailed t tests were used to compare the 2020 weekly scores for each term to their average level over the 3-year study period. The number of Reddit comments per month with each of these 6 terms was collected and then adjusted for the total estimated Reddit monthly comment volume to derive a measure of relative use, analogous to the Google Trends popularity score. The relative monthly incidence of comments with each search term was then compared to the corresponding search term's pre-COVID monthly comment data, again using unpaired 2-tailed t tests. P value cutoffs for statistical significance were determined a priori with a Bonferroni correction. RESULTS: Google Trends and Reddit data both demonstrate large and statistically significant increases in the usage of each evaluated disease term through at least the initial months of the pandemic. Google searches and Reddit comments that included any of the evaluated infectious disease search terms rose significantly in the first months of 2020 above their baseline usage, peaking in March 2020. Google searches for "SARS" and "MERS" remained elevated for the entirety of the 2020 calendar year, as did Reddit comments with the words "Ebola," "H1N1," "MERS," and "SARS" (P<.001, for each weekly or monthly comparison, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Google Trends and Reddit can readily be used to evaluate real-time general interest levels in public health-related topics, providing a tool to better time and direct public health initiatives that require a receptive target audience. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic correlated with increased public interest in other epidemic infectious diseases. We have demonstrated that for 6 distinct infectious causes of epidemics over the last 2 decades, public interest rose substantially and rapidly with the outbreak of COVID-19. Our data suggests that for at least several months after the initial outbreak, the public may have been particularly receptive to dialogue on these topics. Public health officials should consider using Google Trends and social media data to identify patterns of engagement with public health topics in real time and to optimize the timing of public health campaigns.

Exposure to conflicting COVID-19 information in undergraduates: Implications for pandemic-related information-seeking and concern, attention, and cognitive workload.

Objectives: To examine college students' conflicting COVID-19 information exposure, information-seeking, concern, and cognitive functioning. Participants: 179 undergraduates were recruited in March-April 2020, and 220 in September 2020 (Samples 1 and 2, respectively). Methods: Students completed the Attention Network Test, NASA Task Load Index, and COVID-related questions. Results: In Sample 1, exposure to conflicting information predicted poorer attentional performance and greater COVID-related information-seeking and concern; concern was correlated with workload. In Sample 2, conflicting information was associated with information-seeking. In Sample 1, but not Sample 2, cognitive effects of conflicting information were mediated by information-seeking and virus-related concern. Conclusions: Conflicting COVID-19 information may undermine students' cognitive functions, bearing implications for health, academic performance, and stress. Strategies for countering these effects include enhancing the clarity of institutional messaging, and tailoring course curricula and offering workshops to students, faculty, administrators, and counseling staff to augment students' capacity to comprehend and utilize COVID-related communications.

Association of digital health literacy and information-seeking behaviors among physicians during COVID-19 in Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Universal access to health information is a requirement for all global health strategies in the era of pandemics. Getting health information from the internet is a great concern for the quality of patient healthcare. This study aimed to determine the association between digital health literacy and information-seeking behavior among physicians during COVID-19. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December to February 2021 with a total sample size of 423. A pretest was performed among physicians before the actual data collection. After the data collection, the data were checked, cleaned, and exported into STATA v. 14. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and multivariable logistic regression analysis were applied. Then a 95% CI and a p-value of less than 0.05 were used to declare statistical significance. Results: The study revealed that 53.81% of physicians had high digital health literacy and 52.46% had high information-seeking behaviors. Health information-seeking behaviors were determined by digital health literacy, which was 2.25 times more likely than those who had low digital health literacy (AOR = 2.25, 95% CI: [1.11-4.57]). Health-related websites (67.5%) were the most common sources of health information, and 63.30% of physicians find digital health literacy easy or very easy to learn. However, 206 (50.92%) find it difficult or very difficult to decide if the information is reliable, verified, and up-to-date. Internet access (AOR = 1.90, 95% CI: [1.16-3.12]), frequency of searching for information (AOR = 5.35, 95% CI: [2.01-14.29]). All were discovered to be significantly associated with physicians' health information-seeking behaviors. Conclusions: Digital health literacy is a key to seeking health information online for appropriate decision-making. Increasing internet access, and providing ICT training, and integrate it into the health information revolution agendas, helping to disseminate health information and provide timely, reliable, and relevant news and genuine information needed for their work.

How Information Factors and Attitudes Relate to Symptoms of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder: The Role of Uncertainty in the Case of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest in U.S. history, has impacted communities and residents, near and far, in numerous ways. This study proposed and tested a conceptual framework to examine the extent to which (a) information factors (sufficiency, repertoires, similarity, and sensitivity) and attitudes (feeling efficacious in seeking information and willingness/motivation to accept information) are associated with uncertainties in communities during the oil spill and (b) uncertainties, in turn, lead to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the spill. A cross-sectional survey study (N = 240) was conducted in the Houston Ship Channel area. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized conceptual model. Information sufficiency, information similarity, willingness to accept information, and efficacy in information seeking were significant predictors of uncertainty. These predictors explained 30.4% variances of uncertainty. Uncertainty was, in turn, a significant predictor of symptoms of PTSD. Current findings signify the importance of information factors and residents' attitudes in reducing uncertainty and symptoms of PTSD developed during crisis situations, including the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital health literacy and online informationseeking behavior of Lebanese university students in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and infodemic

This cross-sectional study evaluated digital health literacy (DHL) and web-based information-seeking behavior of Lebanese university students. A total of 602 students (60.1% female), 21.5 years (±4.1), participated in May-August 2020 in an online survey. We found that 76.2% used the Internet, in the past month, for COVID-19-related information. Those with a chronic health impairment more often had limited DHL for adding self-generated content (OR=0.448;95 % CI=0.185, 1.085) and for determining relevance (OR=0.276;95 %CI=0.114-0.670). Students in graduate studies had higher odds of having sufficient DHL for adding self-generated content (OR=2.328;95 % CI=1.104, 4.909) and evaluating reliability (OR=2.318;95 % CI=1.149, 4.679). Users of official sources of information had higher odds (OR=1.665;95 % CI=1.065, 2.605) of having sufficient DHL for adding self-generated content. Regular users of social media had lower odds (OR=0.576;95 % CI=0.358, 0.928) of having sufficient DHL for evaluating reliability. Self-efficacy, in this case one's potential to accomplish a search for reliable health information and adopt it in daily life, could improve with DHL. As such, health education needs to strengthen DHL competencies in university students, particularly among undergraduates, those relying on social media, and those with an existing health impairment © Copyright 2023 Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Scenario-based messages on social media motivate COVID-19 information seeking

Communicating information about health risks empowers individuals to make informed decisions. To identify effective communication strategies, we manipulated the specificity, self-relevance, and emotional framing of messages designed to motivate information seeking about COVID-19 exposure risk. In Study 1 (N = 221,829), we conducted a large-scale social media field study. Using Facebook advertisements, we targeted users by age and political attitudes. Episodic specificity drove engagement: Advertisements that contextualized risk in specific scenarios produced the highest click-through rates, across all demographic groups. In Study 2, we replicated and extended our findings in an online experiment (N = 4,233). Message specificity (but not self-relevance or emotional valence) drove interest in learning about COVID-19 risks. Across both studies, we found that older adults and liberals were more interested in learning about COVID-19 risks. However, message specificity increased engagement across demographic groups. Overall, evoking specific scenarios motivated information seeking about COVID-19, facilitating risk communication to a broad audience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals have weighed risks and benefits when making choices about everyday activities. Learning about the current local risk of COVID-19 exposure is important for making informed decisions. Social media can be a platform for rapidly disseminating health information, but it can also contribute to misinformation and confirmation bias. Here, we tested strategies for risk communication on social media, targeting users by age and political attitudes. In Study 1, we used Facebook advertisements to motivate users to learn about COVID-19 exposure risk. Users who clicked on an ad were directed to interactive risk assessment tools on a public website. We varied the specificity of the advertisements by describing national ("in the United States"), local ("in your area"), or scenario ("at your favorite restaurant") risks. We also manipulated emotional valence by using positive ("stay safe and healthy") or negative ("avoid danger and illness") language. Specificity drove engagement: In all demographic groups, users were the most likely to click on scenario ads. In Study 2, we replicated and extended our findings in a sample of paid participants. In addition to varying the specificity and valence of the ads, we manipulated self-relevance (e.g., "a restaurant" vs. "your favorite restaurant") and tested an alternative scenario (grocery store instead of restaurant). Consistent with Study 1, specificity (but not valence or self-relevance) drove interest in learning about COVID-19 risk. In both studies, we also found that older adults and liberals were more interested in COVID-19 information, whereas conservatives were less engaged and more likely to feel angry or disgusted. However, scenario ads reliably increased engagement across demographic groups. Overall, we found that evoking specific scenarios motivated information seeking about COVID-19 risks. Health messages with improved specificity can be readily disseminated on social media, reaching a broad audience to support public health goals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Comparing health consumer search behavior and scientific research productivity related to COVID-19 vaccines in the USA: an infodemiology study

PurposeWhile vaccines are an effective preventative measure to defend against the spread and harmful symptoms of COVID-19, information about COVID vaccines can be difficult to find and conflicting in its coverage of vaccines' benefits and risks. This study aims to examine the extent to which Americans are searching for information about the three major vaccine producers (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen) in relation to the amount of reliable scholarly information that has been produced about each one.Design/methodology/approachData were retrieved from Google Trends for the US Web users alongside scientific research output of the US scientists toward three Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-authorized COVID-19 vaccines in Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed. The authors searched for descriptive statistical analyses to detect coronavirus-seeking behavior versus coronavirus releases in the USA from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021.FindingsOf the three COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer has attracted more attention from the US population. However, the greatest number of articles about COVID-19 vaccines published by the US scholars belonged to Moderna (M = 8.17), with Pfizer (M = 7.75) having slightly less, and Janssen (M = 0.83) well behind. A positive association was found between COVID-19 vaccine information-seeking behavior (ISB) on Google and the amount of research produced about that vaccine (P <0.001).Research limitations/implicationsAs the researchers use the single search engine, Google, to retrieve data from the USA, thus, selection bias will be existing as Google only gathers the data of people who chose to get the information by using this search engine.Practical implicationsIf the policymakers in the US Department of Health and Human Services or the US CDC desire to improve the country's health ISB and the scientific publication behavior (SPB) of the US researchers regarding COVID-19 vaccines studies, they should reference the results of such a study.Originality/valueFrom an infodemiological viewpoint, these findings may support the health policymakers, as well as researchers who work on COVID-19 vaccines in the USA.

Egyptian physicians' information-seeking behavior while serving in public isolation hospitals for coronavirus patients

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian physicians serving in COVID-19 isolation hospitals. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 91 physicians serving in Egyptian isolation hospitals answered the study questionnaire. Findings: Demographically, more than half of respondents were males. Over one-third of them are holding Doctor of Medicine (M.D), followed by one-third holding Master of Medicine (MMed). Respondents' age ranged from 30 to 60 years. Internal medicine is the most common specialty, accounting for nearly half of all physicians, followed by chest medicine and intensive care medicine. The information-seeking behavior of these three groups in their regular work is believed to be different, but since all of the participants are working in COVID-19 isolation hospitals, they should have the same information resources, Internet access and the same needs relevant to COVID-19 in order to make accurate clinical decisions. The physicians used traditional and electronic information sources to fulfill their information needs, the most important of which were to make a specific research, find an answer to a specific case, and deliver a medical lecture. Colleagues, coworkers, nurses and pharmacists were the most important channels pursued by Egyptian physicians to obtain information. Originality/value: This study is the first study that focuses on investigating the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian physicians serving in isolation hospitals. Any findings resulted from this study may serve as a noteworthy reference that may be useful to the Egyptian health sector, experts, researchers, as well as policymakers in establishing strategic decisions for making the understating much better. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0350 [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Online Information Review is the property of Emerald Publishing Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Understanding social media users' engagement intention toward emergency information: the role of experience and information usefulness in a reciprocity framework

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate how social media users' experience of seeking emergency information affects their engagement intention toward emergency information with a reciprocity framework integrated with information adoption model.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on reciprocity theory, indebtedness theory, and information adoption model, an integrative research model is developed. This study employs a questionnaire survey to collect data of 325 social media users in China. Structural equation modeling analyses are conducted to test the proposed theoretical model.FindingsSocial media users' experience of seeking emergency information has a strong effect on their perceived information usefulness and indebtedness, while perceived information usefulness further influences community norm, indebtedness, and engagement intention. The authors also found that perceived information usefulness mediates the relationships between experience of seeking emergency information and community norm/indebtedness.Originality/valueThis study offers a new perspective to explain social media users' engagement intention in the diffusion of emergency information. This study contributes to the literature by extending the theoretical framework of reciprocity and applying it to the context of emergency information diffusion. The findings of this study could benefit the practitioners who wish to leverage social media tools for emergency response purposes.

Introduction

First advanced in the field of psychology by Martin Seligman, positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi 2000). [...]since at least the late 1980s, glimmers of the concept of joy have been found in the LIS literature, though these writings employed varying terminology and diverse conceptualizations over the decades. [...]he is the author of a chapter on "Joy" in The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology (2009). [...]the paper "Informed by Joy: A Christian Librarian's Reflection on C.S. Lewis" sees David Michels immersing himself in the information world of C. S. Lewis and exploring the role of information in both Lewis's and Michels's own lives of faith.

Information-seeking behaviour of Tanzanians in the time of COVID-19

PurposeThis study aims to investigate on access and communication of COVID-19 information among Tanzanians.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative methods were applied to identify a total of 636 respondents.FindingsResults show that the majority (86.9%) of respondents seek information on COVID-19. Gender, age, education and marital status did not influence individual's information-seeking behaviour. Respondents largely used social media, particularly WhatsApp, to communicate. Respondents prefer blending professional and traditional information to combat COVID-19. The majority (51%) of respondents indicated that COVID-19 information was not communicated ethically. Employed people are more likely to ethically communicate information on the pandemic in social media.Practical implicationsFindings imply that novelty of the pandemic has enhanced active information-seeking behaviour. Respondents rely on multiple information sources to seek and collaboratively communicate COVID information. Employment status is associated with respondents' information-seeking behaviour. Audio-visual sources are mostly preferred and relied in communicating information on the pandemic. Social media usage has enhanced timely and appropriate decision-making measures to tackle the COVID menace. Level of education has an influence on the use of credible sources and ethical communication of information on the pandemic. Utilization of COVID-19 preventive information was not statistically associated with socio-demographic variables. Availability of information infrastructures, particularly the internet, influences access, use and clear informed decision on prevention and treatment of COVID-19 disease.Originality/valueThe study contributes to knowledge and literature on response and preventive measures on COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries.

Ontarians' Perceptions of Public Health Communications and Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Clear, 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. OBJECTIVE: We 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. METHODS: We 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. RESULTS: A 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. CONCLUSIONS: Over 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.

The Coronavirus Health Crisis, Social Media, and Online Health Information Seeking Behaviour of Older Adults in Nigeria

Older adults or the elderly are part of the group of peeople that make up a majority of the health burdens in society, and the outbreak of coronavirus or COVID - 19 has further placed them in a risky position due to their age. Going by the latter statement, the research examines the impact of social media on this population's online health information-seeking behaviour in the face of the global coronavirus health crisis in Nigeria. The study employed Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) technique for ascertaining the sample size for a given population, and arrived at a sample of 384 quantitatively surveyed through a questionnaire. The study concluded that social media positively impacted the health behaviour of the research population, and the information sought on social media is reliable, and it also influenced their behaviour positively. However, the authors warn that online health information seekers, especially older adults, should always exercise caution as not all information obtained on social media on various health issues, including the coronavirus, is accurate. Besides, consumers of online health information should be thorough and active users of social media;they should use their human senses to discern between false and true health information. Further, they should also verify such information with health professionals if the need arises. Given the limitations enumerated in this study, the authors suggest that further studies are essential to validate the results of this research.

Traditional Media at the Beginning of the Unknown: Managing Health Uncertainty through TV News Programs in Turkey

The purpose of this research is to find how TV news programs, as part of traditional media source, supply the needs of public within the uncertainty management theory and information-seeking scope during the initial phase of COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis of first four streaming of each TV news programs with the first four highest ratings between March 18th and May 1th 2020 in Turkey was chosen for this study. This period was chosen because it was the first peak of the pandemic in Turkey when people felt uncertain and needed more information about their health. The results have shown that the uncertainty and information gaps have also been reflected in TV programs including the information provided by the experts. This study also reveals that in cases which concern public health, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional media continues to play a significant role in meeting the information needs of the society, and that the traditional media also uses social media's speed in conveying information. We suggest that future studies may focus on the interaction of traditional media and social media in meeting information-seeking behaviours and managing uncertainty to acquire more data.

The influence of prospective event spectators' risk-taking tendency on COVID-19 risk perception and information-seeking: the case of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Due to the risk of COVID-19, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were staged without spectators for the first time in modern Olympic history. Health risks, including pandemics such as COVID-19 and SARS, have caused a serious concern for event participants, stakeholders, and tourists. While seeking information on risks posed by particular destinations is an essential step when making travel decisions, especially during a pandemic, there is limited sport tourism research that scrutinized the relationship between prospective travellers' health risk perceptions in the specific context of COVID-19. This article examines the relationship between prospective spectators' risk perception toward COVID-19 and their information-seeking about the virus, with a specific focus on the moderating effect of spectators' risk-taking tendency in the context of their intention to attend the Games. The study involved a survey of 240 South Korean and 286 American prospective spectators. Prospective spectators perceived COVID-19 as a source of severe risk, significantly decreasing their intention to travel to the destination. This study found positive associations between COVID-19 risk perception and information-seeking and between information-seeking and intent to attend. The results imply that information-seeking regarding the pandemic in the host region is an important predictor of prospective spectators' attendance because seeking information demonstrates an intention to attend despite a perception of high risk. Furthermore, this paper makes a cross-national comparison of the implications of the moderating role of an individual's risk-taking tendency. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.