Abstract
Health information sources and the level of trust in a particular source may influence the subsequent adoption of advocated health behaviors. Information source preference and levels of trust are also likely to be influenced by sociodemographic (culture, age, gender) variables. Understanding these source-trust-behavior relationships across various national and cultural contexts is integral to improved health messaging. The present study identified the sources most frequently consulted to obtain information about COVID-19 during the pandemic's early stages in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study quantified levels of trust across an array of information sources, factoring in sociodemographic variables. Finally, the study explored the relationship between sociodemographic variables, levels of trust in information sources, and the adoption of COVID-19 related protective behaviors. Participants (n = 1585) were recruited during the first 2 weeks of April 2020 via announcements in the UAE media and through email networks. All participants completed a web-based survey presented in English or Arabic, as preferred. The most frequently consulted information sources were websites (health information websites), social media, government communications, and family and friends. The sources rated most trustworthy were: personal physicians, health care professionals, and government communications. There were differences in the use of sources and levels of trust according to age, gender, and education. The levels of trust in sources of information were associated with the adoption of protective behaviors, significantly so for citizens of the UAE. These findings may help inform the improvement of pandemic–related health messaging in multicultural contexts.
Highlights
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) started in Wuhan, China, in the latter months of 2019, quickly spreading to other countries
Participants reported seeking less information from newspapers (W = 437947.5, p < 0.001), TV (W = 256424, p < 0.001), radio (W = 437054, p < 0.001), personal doctors (W = 730874, p < 0.001), health care professionals (W = 473959, p < 0.001), and the government (W = 152369, p < 0.001), in these sources they expressed a higher level of trust
The first was to identify the sources most frequently used for COVID-19 information in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and assess the levels of trust in those information sources
Summary
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) started in Wuhan, China, in the latter months of 2019, quickly spreading to other countries. How emerging health information is selected, processed and evaluated during a pandemic will be influenced by numerous, potentially inter-related, factors Such variables are likely to include the individuals’ daily life circumstances, past experiences, culture, psychological risk orientations, traditions regarding health practices, reasoning strategies, and levels of trust in information sources (e.g., government vs peers) (Vaughan and Tinker, 2009; Llewellyn, 2020). Collectivist cultural values, family size/structure, and governance systems might all influence the choice of information source, levels of trust, and protective health behaviors. Khosravi reported that trust in the government to convey uncensored information contributed to increased protective and preventive behaviors (Khosravi, 2020) Demographic variables such as age, income, and gender may influence online health-seeking behaviors (Rowley et al, 2017). The present study had the following aims: (1) To identify the sources (e.g., government, social media, mass media, interpersonal sources) most frequently consulted to obtain information about COVID-19 in the UAE, and the level of trust in those sources. (2) To examine the relationship between levels of trust in various information sources and the adoption of COVID-19 related protective behaviors
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