Publication: A descriptive study assessing the infodemic medical students faced during COVID-19 pandemic
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Date
2023-10-01
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Abstract
With COVID-19, a new pandemic on worldwide basis
emerged. An infodemic is a rapid and far-reaching spread of
both accurate and inaccurate information about certain issues.
Misinformation and disinformation can spread like a virus
from person to person and affect people like a disease. The aim
of this descriptive study was to assess the infodemic the
medical students faced during COVID-19 pandemic. Second
(n = 266) and third (n = 242) graders from a medical school
in Istanbul, Tu¨rkiye were the study population. The study was
completed with a total of 181 participants, 98 students from
second grade and 83 from third grade who accepted to be
included in the study in February 2022 while the COVID-19
pandemic was still continuing. A 5 point scale lickert type
questionnaire was prepared and applied by the researchers to
measure how much and particularly on which aspects the
participants faced infodemic. Nearly half of the participants
(47.5%) believed that they ‘almost always thought there was a
COVID-19 infodemic’. As the most important causes of this
infodemic the participants stated were ‘It is a new virus ‘
(31.5%) and ‘It affects daily routine life’ (31.5%). Around 40.9
% of the participants believed that the COVID-19 infodemic
‘adversely affected their health,’ 23.2% reporting low-mood
and 15.5% anxiety. Around 52.5% of the participants stated
that the COVID-19 infodemic had a negative impact on their
general learning process at school. Additionally, 69.9% of the
participants declared that they may not have shared anything
that might have been the cause of any infodemic during the
pandemic. Health authorities and educators should be aware
that infodemic exists freely, adversely affecting health and
education.
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Keywords
Sağlık Bilimleri, Health Sciences, Klinik Tıp (MED), Clinical Medicine (MED)
Citation
Ataoğlu B. N., Hıdıroğlu S., Çetin H., Gümüş E. G., Kılınç M., Köksal C., Karavuş M., "A descriptive study assessing the infodemic medical students faced during COVID-19 pandemic ", EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, cilt.33, sa.2, ss.1-2, 2023