The informational role of social media in acquiring Coronavirus health knowledge: Kuwait as an example

Abstract

The recent Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was of particular concern for the public worldwide due to its threat on patients’ health and life. This study aims to determine the proportion of Kuwaitis who obtained COVID-19 virus- and health-related information through the social media and to detect the socio-demographic factors that could affect the use of social media for seeking information on viruses in general and COVID-19 in particular. An electronic questionnaire was the major tool of study and was distributed to 2,108 Kuwaiti participants who use social media. The questionnaire was composed of respondents' demographic information, the degree of COVID-19 news, the information gained through social and traditional media tools, and the extent of using social media tools. Data show that there were significant differences between males and females in the Corona Symptoms Knowledge Scale (CSKS), Corona General Health Knowledge Scale (CGHKS), and Social Media Trust Scale (SMTS). There were significant differences among the age categories regarding the amount of general health knowledge gained through social media as well as the amount of knowledge gained regarding Coronavirus symptoms. The degree of trust in social media also differed between age groups. For the social media platform, WhatsApp was the preferred social media tool to utilize for news about Coronavirus. For the traditional media, official Kuwaiti TV channels was the first media preference for following news. Public health workshops are needed to educate the community on how to find official health-related information sites using the internet and social media platforms during the disease outbreak.