Information About COVID-19 Testing on College Websites in the New York City Metropolitan Area

How College Students Used Information From Institutions of Higher Education in the United States During COVID-19: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey Study

BACKGROUND

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions by US institutions of higher education at an unprecedented level. During the backdrop of an emerging pandemic, younger adults (eg, college students) had an overall lower risk for severe outcomes for SARS-CoV-2, making this population a potential source of transmission for age groups with high susceptibility and negative health outcomes. We examine how college students' level of concern for COVID-19 was influenced by different sources of information, their living status, income level, and other demographic identifiers and its association with prevention behavior change.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to examine the level of concern, defined as the extent to which the participant would take corrective action to mitigate contracting or spreading the virus (to family or friends) by using personal protective equipment such as a face mask, practicing social distancing, and following other public health recommendations, among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in 2021 among 185 college students aged 18-41 years, with most living in New York City and the United States (n=134, 72.4%). Out of 185 college students, 94 provided their zip codes, with 51 of those college students indicating they lived in New York City areas. The participants completed the survey via a QR code. Study participants who did not complete the full survey or were not college students in any US college or university were excluded. Analyses were conducted using R (version 4.2.2; R Foundation for Statistical Computing).

RESULTS

Of 185 respondents participated in the study, 25 (13.5.%) used emails from their schools, 51 (27.6%) used mainstream media, and 109 (58.9%) used social media and other sources to obtain information about COVID-19. Of the 109 participants who learned about the pandemic from social media, 91 (83.5%) were concerned; however, only 63% (32/51) and 60% (15/25) of the participants who sourced information from mainstream media and their schools' email, respectively, were concerned. Further, the participants who received information from social media and other sources were about 3 times more likely to be concerned about COVID-19 than participants who received information from the university via email (P=.036; OR=3.07, 95% CI: 1.06-8.83)..

CONCLUSIONS

College students who received information from social media and other sources were more likely to be concerned about COVID-19 than students who received information from their school via emails.

Universities' communication of COVID-19 cases through online dashboards

Objective: This study's purpose was to explore universities' online dashboards that communicate information about COVID-19 cases to campus communities, and if dashboards adhere to American College Health Association (ACHA) recommendations. Methods: The websites of all four-year, public universities with an enrollment of at least 10,000 students were analyzed for the presence of COVID-19 dashboards, if dashboards contained recommended case features (eg, number of cases, tests, and people in quarantine/isolation), as well as other helpful features (eg, epidemiological curve, cluster information). Results: Of the 263 universities included in the study, 76% had a dashboard, but only 15% contained all recommended features. Most (62%) had an epidemiological curve, but few (3%) reported information related to clusters. Conclusion: Dashboards display case information and encourage behavior change; however, there is a need for improved adherence to the ACHA's recommendations for COVID-19 dashboards to maximize their potential impact on campus communities.

A longitudinal descriptive assessment of US college COVID-19 dashboards

BACKGROUND

The purposes of this study were to (1) longitudinally examine US college and university COVID-19 dashboard content and (2) explore county-level population health and COVID-19 community indicators where colleges with large undergraduate enrollments were located.

METHODS

We identified 10 colleges with the largest undergraduate enrollments. Next, we located all public and private two- and four-year nonprofit colleges (n = 58) in each respective county. We assessed active COVID-19 dashboards using established criteria from We Rate COVID Dashboards in March 2021 and February 2022.

RESULTS

In 2021 and 2022, two-thirds (n = 38/58) of colleges had an active COVID-19 dashboard. While most COVID-19 dashboards were easy to read, they were less likely to include updated daily infection rates and testing frequency details.

CONCLUSION

Overall quality, content, and features of COVID-19 dashboards varied greatly across colleges. Future COVID-19 dashboard designs should focus on providing evidence-based information with the goal of promoting and supporting informed decision making.

Website analytics for government user behavior during COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

The present study aims to clarify the following two research objectives: (1) the user behavior of government websites during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) period and (2) how the government improved government's website design during the COVID-19 period.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used website analytics to examine usage patterns and behaviors of the government website via personal computer (PC) and mobile devices during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-depth interviews were conducted to understand the user experience of government website users and to gather users' opinions about how government websites should be redesigned.

Findings

With the rising of the COIVID-19 pandemic, most studies expect that the use of government websites through a mobile device will grow astonishingly. The authors uncovered that the COVID-19 pandemic did not increase the use of government websites. Instead, severe declines in website usage were observed for all device users with the declines being more pronounced in mobile device users than in PC users. This is an admonitory caveat that reveals public health and pandemic prevention information announced on government websites cannot be effectively transmitted to the general public through official online platforms.

Originality/value

The study highlights the gap in information behavior and usage patterns between PC and mobile device users when visiting government websites. Although mobile devices brought many new visitors, mobile devices are ineffective in retaining visitors and continuous long-term use. The results of localize experience is helpful in the improvement of government website evaluation worldwide.