The Role of Health Literacy among Outpatient Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Health literacy became an important competence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite outpatient caregivers being a particularly vulnerable occupational group, their health literacy has hardly been examined yet, especially during the pandemic. Hence, this study aimed to explore this field and provide first empirical insights. Data were collected based on a cross-sectional online survey among 155 outpatient caregivers. In particular, health literacy (HLS-EU-Q16), diet and physical activity, pandemic-related worries, perceived information sufficiency and stress perception were examined. Descriptive and ordinal logistic regression analyses were run to test explorative assumptions. The majority of outpatient caregivers reported high values of health literacy (69% on a sufficient level). Although no significant associations between health literacy and health behaviours or perceived information sufficiency were found, perceived information sufficiency and perceived stress (OR = 3.194; 95% CI: 1.542-6.614), and pandemic-related worries (OR = 3.073; 95% CI: 1.471-6.421; OR = 4.243; 95% CI: 2.027-8.884) seem to be related. Therefore, dissemination of reliable information and resource-building measures to reduce worries may be important parameters for improving outpatient caregivers' health. Our results provide first explorative insights, representing a starting point for further research. Considering outpatient caregivers' mobile work setting, they need to be provided with adequate equipment and comprehensible information to ensure physically and mentally healthy working conditions.

Behavioural intention of receiving COVID-19 vaccination, social media exposures and peer discussions in China.

The study aimed to investigate behavioural intentions to receive free and self-paid COVID-19 vaccinations (BICV-F and BICV-SP) among Chinese university students if the vaccine was 80% effective with rare mild side effects, to examine their associations with social media exposures and peer discussions regarding COVID-19 vaccination, and to explore the mediational role of perceived information sufficiency about COVID-19 vaccination. An online anonymous survey (N = 6922) was conducted in November 2020 in five Chinese provinces. Logistic regression and path analysis were adopted. The prevalence of BICV-F and BICV-SP were 78.1% and 57.7%. BICV-F was positively associated with the frequencies of passive social media exposure (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.32, P < 0.001), active social media interaction (AOR = 1.13, P < 0.001) and peer discussions (AOR = 1.17, P < 0.001). Indirect effects of the three factors on BICV-F via perceived information sufficiency were all significant (P < 0.001). The direct effect of active social media interaction on BICV-F was significantly negative (P < 0.001). Similar associations/mediations were observed for BICV-SP. The COVID-19 vaccination intention of Chinese university students needs improvement. Boosting social media exposures and peer discussions may raise students' perceived information sufficiency and subsequently increase their vaccination intention. Considering the potential negative effect of active social media interaction, caution is needed when using social media to promote COVID-19 vaccination.