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Social Media Use, eHealth Literacy, Disease Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviors in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study on Chinese Netizens.
Li, Xiaojing; Liu, Qinliang.
  • Li X; Center for Health and Medical Communication, School of Media & Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
  • Liu Q; Center for Health and Medical Communication, School of Media & Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
J Med Internet Res ; 22(10): e19684, 2020 10 09.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1024458
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Since its outbreak in January 2020, COVID-19 has quickly spread worldwide and has become a global pandemic. Social media platforms have been recognized as important tools for health-promoting practices in public health, and the use of social media is widespread among the public. However, little is known about the effects of social media use on health promotion during a pandemic such as COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE:

In this study, we aimed to explore the predictive role of social media use on public preventive behaviors in China during the COVID-19 pandemic and how disease knowledge and eHealth literacy moderated the relationship between social media use and preventive behaviors.

METHODS:

A national web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted by a proportionate probability sampling among 802 Chinese internet users ("netizens") in February 2020. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regressions were employed to examine and explore the relationships among all the variables.

RESULTS:

Almost half the 802 study participants were male (416, 51.9%), and the average age of the participants was 32.65 years. Most of the 802 participants had high education levels (624, 77.7%), had high income >¥5000 (US $736.29) (525, 65.3%), were married (496, 61.8%), and were in good health (486, 60.6%). The average time of social media use was approximately 2 to 3 hours per day (mean 2.34 hours, SD 1.11), and the most frequently used media types were public social media (mean score 4.49/5, SD 0.78) and aggregated social media (mean score 4.07/5, SD 1.07). Social media use frequency (ß=.20, P<.001) rather than time significantly predicted preventive behaviors for COVID-19. Respondents were also equipped with high levels of disease knowledge (mean score 8.15/10, SD 1.43) and eHealth literacy (mean score 3.79/5, SD 0.59). Disease knowledge (ß=.11, P=.001) and eHealth literacy (ß=.27, P<.001) were also significant predictors of preventive behaviors. Furthermore, eHealth literacy (P=.038) and disease knowledge (P=.03) positively moderated the relationship between social media use frequency and preventive behaviors, while eHealth literacy (ß=.07) affected this relationship positively and disease knowledge (ß=-.07) affected it negatively. Different social media types differed in predicting an individual's preventive behaviors for COVID-19. Aggregated social media (ß=.22, P<.001) was the best predictor, followed by public social media (ß=.14, P<.001) and professional social media (ß=.11, P=.002). However, official social media (ß=.02, P=.597) was an insignificant predictor.

CONCLUSIONS:

Social media is an effective tool to promote behaviors to prevent COVID-19 among the public. Health literacy is essential for promotion of individual health and influences the extent to which the public engages in preventive behaviors during a pandemic. Our results not only enrich the theoretical paradigm of public health management and health communication but also have practical implications in pandemic control for China and other countries.
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Texto completo: Disponível Coleções: Bases de dados internacionais Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Pneumonia Viral / Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde / Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde / Inquéritos Epidemiológicos / Telemedicina / Infecções por Coronavirus / Letramento em Saúde / Mídias Sociais Tipo de estudo: Estudo observacional / Estudo prognóstico / Pesquisa qualitativa / Ensaios controlados aleatorizados Limite: Adulto / Feminino / Humanos / Masculino / Meia-Idade / Jovem adulto País/Região como assunto: Ásia Idioma: Inglês Revista: J Med Internet Res Assunto da revista: Informática Médica Ano de publicação: 2020 Tipo de documento: Artigo País de afiliação: 19684

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Texto completo: Disponível Coleções: Bases de dados internacionais Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Pneumonia Viral / Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde / Conhecimentos, Atitudes e Prática em Saúde / Inquéritos Epidemiológicos / Telemedicina / Infecções por Coronavirus / Letramento em Saúde / Mídias Sociais Tipo de estudo: Estudo observacional / Estudo prognóstico / Pesquisa qualitativa / Ensaios controlados aleatorizados Limite: Adulto / Feminino / Humanos / Masculino / Meia-Idade / Jovem adulto País/Região como assunto: Ásia Idioma: Inglês Revista: J Med Internet Res Assunto da revista: Informática Médica Ano de publicação: 2020 Tipo de documento: Artigo País de afiliação: 19684