The Impact of Coronavirus Information-Seeking Behavior on Dental Care Access: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire-Based Study

The effect of fear on health information searching behavior during the pandemic: The case of COVID-19

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Fear can cause people to panic, lead to erroneous decisions, and trigger inappropriate behavior. This study aims to investigate the effects of fear of COVID-19 on the perception of the reliability and the use of health information sources.

METHODS

This study is both a cross-sectional and explanatory study. The participants selected by convenience sampling method were 323 students attending a state university in Turkey. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and the Health Information Sources Survey were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and linear regression analyses were used.

RESULTS

The participants' mean FCV-19S score was 2.30 ± 0.93 on a five-point Likert scale. In the range of 0-10, the information source with the highest reliability perception mean score was the doctor (8.05 ± 2.54), whereas that with the highest usage was the Internet (7.98 ± 2.77). Although the fear of COVID-19 had a negative effect on Internet use (b = -0.38; p < 0.05), the effects on the use of other health information sources were positive (b = 0.37-0.83; p < 0.05). Trust in radio (b = 0.60; p < 0.05) and newspapers/magazines (b = 0.49; p < 0.05) also increased with fear.

CONCLUSIONS

These results showed that as university students' fear of COVID-19 increased, the use of the Internet for health information decreased; however, the use of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health workers, scientific articles, television, radio, and newspapers/journals increased. Nurses were the source of information whose use increased the most, along with increased fear. The findings can guide health policies to be followed. Not only doctor talks but also nurse talks and scientific videos should be increased on the Internet, social media, and other mass media.

Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in the Setting of Dentistry: A Review Article

The worldwide pandemic has exposed healthcare professionals to a high risk of infection, exacerbating the situation of uncertainty caused by COVID-19. The objective of this review was to evaluate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental professionals and their patients. A literature review was conducted using Medline-Pubmed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, excluding systematic reviews, narratives, meta-analyses, case reports, book chapters, short communications, and congress papers. A modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of the selected studies. The search retrieved 3879 articles, and 123 of these were selected for the review (7 longitudinal and 116 cross-sectional studies). Elevated anxiety levels were observed in dental professionals, especially in younger and female professionals. Except for orthodontic treatments, patients reported a high level of fear that reduced their demand for dentist treatment to emergency cases alone. The results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had psychological and emotional consequences for dental professionals and their patients. Further research is necessary to evaluate the persistence of this problem over time.

Evaluation of Conspiracy Beliefs, Vaccine Hesitancy, and Willingness to Pay towards COVID-19 Vaccines in Six Countries from Asian and African Regions: A Large Multinational Analysis

Vaccination protects people from serious illness and associated complications. Conspiracy theories and misinformation on vaccines have been rampant during the COVID-19 pandemic and are considered significant drivers of vaccine hesitancy. Since vaccine hesitancy can undermine efforts to immunize the population against COVID-19 and interferes with the vaccination rate, this study aimed to ascertain the COVID-19-vaccine-related conspiracy beliefs, vaccine hesitancy, views regarding vaccine mandates, and willingness to pay for vaccines among the general population. A web-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted (April−August 2021) among the adult population in six countries (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, Malaysia, Sudan, and Egypt). Participants were recruited using an exponential, non-discriminate snowball sampling method. A validated self-completed electronic questionnaire was used for the data collection. All the participants responded to questions on various domains of the study instrument, including conspiracy beliefs, vaccine hesitancy, and willingness to pay. The responses were scored according to predefined criteria and stratified into various groups. All data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22. A total of 2481 responses were included in the study (Pakistan 24.1%, Saudi Arabia 19.5%, India 11.6%, Malaysia 8.1%, Sudan 19.3%, and Egypt 17.3%). There was a preponderance of participants ≤40 years old (18−25 years: 55.8%, 26−40 years: 28.5%) and females (57.1%). The average score of the COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy belief scale (C19V-CBS) was 2.30 ± 2.12 (median 2; range 0−7). Our analysis showed that 30% of the respondents were found to achieve the ideal score of zero, indicating no conspiracy belief. The mean score of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy scale (C19V-HS) was 25.93 ± 8.11 (range: 10−50). The majority (45.7%) had C19V-HA scores of 21−30 and nearly 28% achieved a score greater than 30, indicating a higher degree of hesitancy. There was a significant positive correlation between conspiracy beliefs and vaccine hesitancy (Spearman’s rho = 0.547, p < 0.001). Half of the study population were against the vaccine mandate. Respondents in favor of governmental enforcement of COVID-19 vaccines had significantly (p < 0.001) lower scores on the C19V-CBS and C19V-HS scale. Nearly 52% reported that they would only take vaccine if it were free, and only 24% were willing to pay for COVID-19 vaccines. A high prevalence of conspiracy beliefs and vaccine hesitancy was observed in the targeted countries. Our findings highlight the dire need for aggressive measures to counter the conspiracy beliefs and factors underlying this vaccine hesitancy.

The Association between Types of COVID-19 Information Source and the Avoidance of Child Health Checkups in Japan: Findings from the JACSIS 2021 Study

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can affect children's well-being through mothers' avoidance of health checkups for children due to media portrayal of the disease. This study investigated the association between the type of information source for COVID-19 received by mothers and the avoidance of their children's health checkups. The study was an online-based survey, and the participants comprised 5667 postpartum women with children aged under 2 years during the study period. We analyzed the analytic sample and three groups of women with children aged 0-3 months, 4-6 months, and 6 months or older according to the timing of children's health checkups in Japan. Among the participants, 382 women (6.7%) avoided their children's health checkups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that mothers with children over 6 months who used magazines as an information source about COVID-19 tended to avoid their children's health checkups (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.68-6.05) compared with those who did not. In contrast, those using public websites were less likely to avoid their children's health checkups (aOR 0.58, 95% CI 0.43-0.77). This study showed that specific types of information source on COVID-19 could have varying effects on mothers' decisions about their children's health checkups.