The impact of panic spread in social media over COVID-19 on dental students of Nellore, India – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Social media platforms play an important role in the dissemination of information on the COVID-19 pandemic. Fake news had spread more rapidly on social media during the pandemic. Frequent exposure to fake news on coronavirus disease in social media creates panic and affects people's mental health. Aim: This study aims to assess the effect of social media on spreading panic over COVID–19 among dental students in Nellore city of Andhra Pradesh. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 1 month on 534 dental students of Nellore city of Andhra Pradesh. A specially designed and validated 20-item questionnaire was used to collect the data. SPSS version 21.0 was used for the statistical analysis. The Chi-square test used for categorical data. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Majority of the subjects used Instagram (50.3%) and Whatsapp (79.4%) to obtain and share information related to COVID-19 respectively. There was statistically significant association between the BDS and MDS dental students' responses on the questions relating to panic created over COVID-19 in social media. 54.2% of subjects felt that filters need to be set up for social media during a humanitarian crisis. Conclusion: The study concluded that the panic created in social media over COVID-19 had an impact on dental students.