Trust In Sources Research Articles

Climate Change Impact Assessment for Future Wind and Solar Energy Installations in India

Solar and wind assets are climate-dependent and changes in climate will result in variations in their generation and intermittency. Developers of solar and wind parks in India have observed changes in climate conditions and variability in solar irradiation and wind profiles at the seasonal and year-to-year timescales. Future climate change perturbations, including monsoon shifts, could lead to lower-than-predicted wind and solar energy production and affect the economics of solar and wind assets. Regional climate models (RCMs) are the basis of climate impact assessments and the most trusted source of information to extract knowledge about future trends in climate variables. However, RCM projections are tainted with variability and uncertainty about the future trends. For India as a case study, we use the RCMs generated by the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment West Asia project (CORDEX WAS) to calculate individual wind, radiation, and temperature trends at selected sites; estimate wind and solar PV energy time series; and embed them in portfolio methods to test the impact of combining wind and solar assets on the variability of the total production and the uncertainty about the predicted production. We include a comparison of CORDEX RCMs with the ERA5 reanalysis dataset and conclude that all available RCMs reasonably simulate the main annual and seasonality features of wind speed, surface solar radiation, and temperature in India. The analysis demonstrates that the uncertainty about the portfolio return can be reduced by optimizing the combination of wind and solar assets in a producer portfolio, thus mitigating the economic impact of climate change. We find that the reduction obtained with a mixed portfolio ranges from 33 to 50% compared to a wind only portfolio, and from 30 to 96% compared to a solar only portfolio.

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF RISK PERCEPTIONS AND RELATED PARAMETERS FOR THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

INTRODUCTION: Assessment of risk perception in communities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is essential for organizing effective interventions. The study aims to determine the level of COVID-19 risk perception and the factors associated with risk perception. METHODS: It is a cross-sectional study in which 452 participants, who were employees of Eskisehir Osmangazi University, were included between December-2020 and January-2021. The COVID-19 risk perception level was assessed with nine questions by modifying the COVID-19 Instant Monitoring Turkey protocol study questions. The prepared questionnaire included variables of sociodemographic characteristics, transmission risk status, preparedness, self-efficacy, compliance with protective behaviors, actionism(ineffective protection behavior), and confidence in information sources/tools. The 25th percentile and lower scores were evaluated as having low risk perception. The study data were evaluated with univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The participants had a mean age of 38.51±9.66 years (46.9% females, 53.1% males). The median COVID-19 risk perception score was 42(Interquartile range: 35-50). In this study, the low COVID-19 risk perception frequency was 26.3%. Being 40 years old and older (OR;%95CI: 1.76;1.12-2.76), the low level of compliance with protective behaviors (1.75;1.09-2.76) and low level of confidence in information sources/tools (2.37;1.49-3.78) were predictive for having a low level of risk perception of COVID-19. Those with a low COVID-19 risk perception were more likely to agree that the restrictions being applied were exaggerated (p=0.001). The most trusted sources of information about COVID-19 were the statements of health professionals and official institutions (p<0.001). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: A low-level risk perception was detected in one out of every four people in the study group. COVID-19 risk perception of individuals should be monitored since it is related to many parameters in epidemic management.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Northeast and Appalachian Loggers

ABSTRACT Objective: The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety conducted a survey in December 2020 to understand the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the Androscoggin Mill explosion among loggers in six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Methods: Logger mailing addresses were aggregated with the assistance of state logging organizations. A paper survey, including a self-addressed return envelope was mailed to the loggers in December 2020. Results: The mailed survey had a response rate of 13.3% and captured data on 484 loggers. The majority knew someone (including themselves) who tested positive for COVID-19 (71.9%). Less than half (43%) received employer training about COVID-19 prevention measures, though 73% received some form of COVID-19 personal protective equipment from their employers. The health department, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and health care providers were the most trusted sources of health information. Nearly half acknowledged significant change in their home lives and work responsibilities due to the pandemic. The explosion of the Androscoggin Mill affected the business of 80% of Maine loggers, and 18% of loggers that resided outside Maine. Conclusion: The lessons learned can be used to enhance trust in public health institutions and future public health response to this unique occupational group.

Psalm 115 and the Logic of Blessing

Abstract Although not a well-known biblical psalm, Psalm 115 offers significant insights into the character of blessing in Second Temple piety. The psalm’s structure and catchword technique highlight a fundamental contrast between Israel’s God and the idols of the nations. The intangibility and apparent absence of Israel’s God are actually markers of this deity’s superiority and involvement in the world. God is present as the reliable recipient of human trust and ultimate source of human blessing. The human act of blessing is a means of “placing” one’s self and others within God’s good creation, and thus participating in God’s ongoing work of redemption. The act of blessing God affirms relationship with God.

Fully Decentralised, Post-Quantum Secure Networks

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, promises trillions of dollars of value creation by connecting billions of sensors and actuators to analytical engines, thereby creating the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). This revolution will push decision making to the edge and connect the edge to the center. The revolution faces three major technical challenges: interoperability between devices, security of edge devices and legacy infrastructure. This paper describes an implementation of a fundamentally new authentication and encryption technology (“dOISP™), that allows devices to connect regardless of operating system and transport technology. With dOISP™ a network manages its own security without use of certificates or Trusted Third Parties or any centralized or externalized source of trust and without human intervention – the network itself maintains a distributed source of trust that changes continuously and always assumes that authentication must be refreshed for every session. This technology enables the acceleration of Industry 4.0 initiatives thereby increasing their net present value as well as reducing the organizational costs of network security and reducing the risk of successful attack.

COVID-19 Vaccination Motivation and Hesitancy in Heart Transplant Recipients During a Global Health Crisis

PurposeHeart transplant (HT) recipients are at increased risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and infection related complications, which can lead to long term morbidity and mortality due to their immunosuppressed status. COVID-19 vaccination is strongly recommended for transplant recipients. However, the motivating and limiting factors to vaccination in HT recipients remain unknown.MethodsA 26 question survey was mailed to all adult HT recipients at our center to assess the number of patients who received a COVID-19 vaccine as well as motivating and limiting factors to vaccination. Surveys with 3 or more incomplete answers were excluded.ResultsNinety (36.1%) of 249 HT recipients returned the survey, with 5 surveys excluded and 85 evaluated. Selected responses are reported in the table. Of assessed surveys, 82 (96.5%) patients received a COVID-19 vaccine with primary motivating factor to protect their own health (86.9%). A majority of respondents were very (45.9%) or moderately concerned (23.5%) about getting COVID-19 infection. While most patients (57.7%) reported no concern about getting the vaccine, 23 respondents listed a vaccine-related concern. A high percentage (67.9%) of patients reported obtaining certain information about the vaccine which they could not determine to be true or false. The most trusted source for vaccine information was a transplant provider (80%). Of 3 non-vaccinated respondents, none listed a specific concern related to the vaccine; 2 of the 3 (66.7%) had previously confirmed COVID-19 infection.ConclusionA high percentage of responding HT recipients received a COVID-19 vaccine. Patients were primarily motivated to protect their own health and reported low concern about receiving a vaccine. Transplant providers were a highly trusted source of information, suggesting an important role for the transplant team in encouraging vaccination.

149 Understanding vaccine hesitancy among underserved communities in South Florida – an effort by the Florida Community-Engaged Research Alliance Against COVID-19 in Disproportionately Affected Communities (FL-CEAL) to address vaccine uptake disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The goal of this project is to understand vaccine hesitancy and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among underserved communities in South Florida, to promote vaccine awareness, and to tailor education and communication based on the findings, in partnership with local community-based organizations. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: By partnering with local community organizations, leaders, faith groups, and other trusted sources, the FL-CEAL teams will conduct a nationally developed CEAL survey in minority communities in South Florida to understand vaccine hesitancy and barriers, conduct outreach activities such as webinars and virtual townhalls to address hesitancy and promote vaccine uptake, and develop and disseminate educational materials and social media communications based on findings. The communities in South Florida include the Latinx farm working community, Latinx sexual/gender minorities, and Haitian and Black populations in South Florida. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Early findings have indicated that hesitancy drivers vary among specific communities, while lack of trust is an overall barrier. Over 100 outreach activities have been conducted, including events with subject matter experts and community partners addressing vaccines. A credit-earning Community Health Worker (CHW) curriculum on COVID vaccine hesitancy was created in partnership with the Miami CTSI and the Florida CHW Coalition and has been delivered to over 200 Florida CHWs. The training focuses on evidence-informed best practices for CHWs to increase vaccine acceptance. At least 350 surveys will be conducted to understand beliefs and concerns around COVID-19 vaccines, and tailor education materials and communication strategies. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The FL-CEAL Alliance has successfully leveraged their ongoing state-wide effort at addressing COVID-19 disparities to focus on COVID vaccine hesitancy in minority communities and leveraged data and findings to inform community-specific approaches in addressing some of those barriers.

A qualitative study of adolescent perspectives on COVID-19 pandemic: considerations in the provision of primary virtual care.

Context: Amidst school shutdowns, sheltering in place, and social distancing, the COVID-19 pandemic uniquely affected adolescents. Understanding the experiences of adolescents with respect to social distancing, health changes, information sources and virtual care can inform effective health care for adolescents both during and after the pandemic. Objective: An exploration into their health care experiences during the beginning stage of the pandemic was undertaken to increase knowledge among family physicians to enable adjustments to the provision of care, primarily done virtually. Study Design: This was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were used to understand the experiences of adolescents using virtual care during the pandemic, the impact of public health restrictions on their health, and their sources of information. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted using a double-coding technique. Setting: This study took place in a family health team with eight primary care practices. Population studied: Adolescents, aged 14-17 years who had at least one virtual care appointment with their family physician in the first three months of the pandemic were included. Eleven participants were interviewed. Results: Most participants were compliant with social distancing guidelines, motivated by protecting family and community. Participants described both positive and negative impacts on their mental health. Some noted an increase in marijuana use. Sexual activity in pre-pandemic relationships did not change and one participant noted a decrease in casual sexual activity. Participants enjoyed the convenience offered by virtual care but acknowledged privacy and communication challenges. Parents were described as the most trusted source of information about the pandemic. Conclusions: Adolescents primarily look to parents for guidance and the increased family time promoted well-being. Physicians that are able to help adolescents negotiate privacy and mitigate communication challenges are able to provide effective virtual care.

A Latent Profile Analysis of COVID-19 Trusted Sources of Information among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in South Florida

By the spring of 2021, most of the adult U.S. population became eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet, by the summer of 2021, the vaccination rate stagnated. Given the immense impact COVID-19 has had on society and individuals, and the surge of new variant strains of the virus, it remains urgent to better understand barriers to vaccination, including the impact of variations in trusted sources of COVID-19 information. The goal of the present study was to conduct a cross-sectional, community-engaged, and person-centered study of trusted sources of COVID-19 information using latent profile analysis (LPA). The aims were to (1) identify the number and nature of profiles of trusted sources of COVID-19 information, and (2) determine whether the trust profiles were predictive of COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and various demographic categories. Participants included mostly racial and ethnic minority individuals (82.4%) recruited by various community-based agencies in South Florida. The LPA evidenced an optimal 3-class solution characterized by low (n = 80)-, medium (n = 147)-, and high (n = 52)-trust profiles, with high trust statistically significantly predictive of vaccination willingness. The profiles identified could be important targets for public health dissemination efforts to reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake. The general level of trust in COVID-19 information sources was found to be an important factor in predicting COVID-19 vaccination willingness.

Design and Application of Intelligent Processing Technology for Animation Images Based on Deep Learning

The origins of anime can be traced all the way back to the Homo sapiens period of human civilization. Nowadays, anime is a record of life as well as a popular kind of entertainment and a source of ideal trust for many individuals. Children and individuals of all classes and ages enjoy anime. In the opinion of most people, anime is not simply a form of amusement and pleasure, but it can also express deeper meanings, transmit other cultures, and inspire individuals to pursue their aspirations. Image stylistic migration based on convolutional neural networks has developed as a central research path in recent years, and attempts on style migration have evolved as well. However, there are few studies on style migration. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based solution to the problem of anime-style migration. Experiments on a relevant database show that our proposed method is effective and accurate and has commercial and academic significance.

Analisis Resepsi Khalayak Terhadap Pesan Iklan Layanan Masyarakat “Disinformasi” Covid 19 (Studi Pada Komunitas Mersi Fans Club Radio Mersi Fm 93.90)

Abstract -The disinformation of covid 19 in the media gives a different message for people. A different message affects the audiences of Mersi Radio Fans Club. It is done in order to give the accurate and trusted sources of information related to covid 19. The information can be given through community service announcements disinformation covid version. Based on the problems, the objectives of the research are to describe to the audiences about the true information about covid 19, the influences of different message, the reaction of Mersi Radio Fans Club interpret a message of covid 19 disinformation version, and the factors affect the Mersi Radio Fans Club. The qualitative research method and the theory of encoding decoding people from Stuart Hall were used to conduct the research. The theory of decoding was done by the audiences through three positions; they are the hegemony of the dominant position, negotiation position, and opposition position. The result of the research indicated that 5 informants are the most dominant hegemonic position.keyword : reception analysis. encoding decoding

Associations Between Social Media Engagement and Vaccine Hesitancy

There has been a surge in vaccine hesitancy following the Coronavirus pandemic. This study measured the prevalence of and identified factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and social media use. An online survey was administered (n = 1050) between May and July 2021. Chi-square tests were used to examine bivariate associations with vaccine hesitancy (partially vaccinated and unvaccinated participants). Logistic regression was used to identify associations between social media use and vaccine hesitancy. Chi-square tests showed women (69.7% vs 28.2% men, padjusted = .002), African American participants (52.3% vs 17.8% white, padjusted < .001), high school diploma (54.4% vs 38.6% college degree, padjusted < .001), political unaffiliated (15.8% vs 14.5% republican, padjusted < .001), Muslim (10.0% vs 0% Jewish, padjusted < .001), and never married/single (53.9% vs 17.0% married, padjusted < .001) were more likely to be vaccine hesitant. Controlling for all demographic variables (age, race, gender, and education), more frequent use of social media for reading news was associated with lower vaccine hesitancy (OR 0.35, 99% CI 0.20, 0.63, p < 0.001). However, using social media as a source of vaccine information without any other trusted source (health department, doctor, CDC,) was associated with higher odds of being vaccine hesitant (OR 2.00, 99% CI 1.15, 3.46, p = 0.001). People who use social media without referencing trusted sources may be particularly vulnerable to disinformation or vaccine hesitant persons are more likely exposed to non-trusted social media sites as their only information source.

Burden of the Beast

Burden of the Beast

Application of Caring Life‐Course Theory to explore care needs in women with pregnancy‐related pelvic girdle pain

To describe the care needs of women with pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain based on the Caring Life-Course Theory. A descriptive qualitative research design. Data were collected between November 2019 and February 2021 from 20 purposively selected pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain aged between 22 and 39years in antenatal care at a tertiary hospital in Australia. Individual semi-structured interviews were recorded via a digital audio recorder and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative content analysis method was used to analyse the data. Five broad themes were identified: pain is an added burden to pregnancy; knowledge is power to own what happens to me; engaging in self-help; care from others is useful; and pain deserves more attention from healthcare professionals. Caring Life-Course Theory presented a useful and applicable scaffold for describing care needs of pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain. The study revealed experiencing pelvic girdle pain led to additional care needs during pregnancy, highlighting the importance of self-management strategies and an appreciation of care from others to assist women in limiting the effects of the pain. Participants identified the need for more information and attention from healthcare professionals to be able to better manage their condition. This study presents a comprehensive picture of the change in care needs triggered by experiencing pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. The findings have the potential to facilitate better care provision by considering novel methods of delivery, such as information and communication technology, whilst acknowledging the value placed on credible and trusted sources. Knowledge acquired through this study may be used by nurses and midwives, along with other healthcare professionals, to enhance the provision of comprehensive care that is acceptable to women with pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy.

Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among residents of Northern California jails

Carceral facilities are high-risk settings for COVID-19 transmission. Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among incarcerated individuals are poorly understood, especially among jail residents. Here, we conducted a retrospective review of electronic health record (EHR) data on COVID-19 vaccine uptake in custody and additionally administered a survey to assess reasons for vaccine hesitancy, sources of COVID-19 information, and medical mistrust among residents of four Northern California jails. We performed multivariate logistic regression to determine associations with vaccine acceptance. Of 2,564 jail residents offered a COVID-19 vaccine between March 19, 2021 and June 30, 2021, 1,441 (56.2%) accepted at least one dose. Among vaccinated residents, 497 (34.5%) had initially refused. Vaccine uptake was higher among older individuals, women, those with recent flu vaccination, and those living in shared housing. Among 509 survey respondents, leading reasons for vaccine hesitancy were concerns around side effects and suboptimal efficacy, with cost and the need for an annual booster being other hypothetical deterrents to vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was also associated with mistrust of medical personnel in and out of jail, although this association varied by race/ethnicity. Television and friends/family were the most common and most trusted sources of COVID-19 information, respectively. Overall, vaccine acceptance was much lower among jail residents than the local and national general population. Interventions to increase vaccination rates in this setting should utilize accessible and trusted sources of information to address concerns about side effects and efficacy, while working to mitigate medical and institutional mistrust among residents.

Seeing is believing? The pivotal role of personal experience in contemporary health behaviour: A narrative review

AbstractIn the age of people aspiring after sense experiences, encouraging long-term health behaviour changes to prevent future disorders that are, without previous personal experiences, unimaginable threats for the public, maybe one of the greatest challenges preventive medicine has to face. In order to become trusted sources, and influence public health behaviour in an experience-oriented manner, we need to formulate strategies offering emotionally evocative sense inputs that elicit self-relatedness. The current narrative review discusses the relevance of personal experiences in contemporary health behaviour by focusing on three major areas: 1) the importance of personal sources of health-related information, 2) cognitive and neurobiological background of personal experiences, 3) potential strategies to induce health behaviour changes through personal experiences. Based on the reviewed body of knowledge, three potential “rules” are proposed to increase the effectiveness of health promotion programs through sense or personal experiences: 1) Rule of Senses (stressing the importance of multisensory learning); 2) Rule of Affect (emphasizing the motivational significance of evoking positive emotions); and 3) Rule of Self-relatedness (highlighting the role of the self-referential composition of human experiences).

Targeted Strategies for Recruitment and Engagement of Latinx Immigrants in Longitudinal Biobehavioral Research.

Introduction: Racial/ethnic minority communities are underrepresented in research. Medical mistrust and mistreatment, discrimination, and a lack of diverse research workforce may influence recruitment and engagement. Engaging Latinx immigrants for research presents unique recruitment challenges, especially for biobehavioral research which is not well explored. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of targeted strategies for recruiting young adult, Latinx immigrants. Methods: Recruitment occurred from 2018 to 2019 in an ongoing, longitudinal, community-engaged research study examining risk and resilience factors for health outcomes in Latinx immigrants. Strategies included active recruitment (e.g., community-based events and public events) and passive recruitment (e.g., word-of-mouth and radio and flyer advertisements). Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of type of recruitment on participant enrollment. Results: The study enrolled 391 participants of 701 interested individuals (55%). Greater odds of enrollment were among participants recruited through radio and flyer advertisements (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.90, 95%CI [1.59, 5.27], p=.001), word-of-mouth (AOR=2.50, 95% CI [1.55, 4.03], p<.000), or community-based organization events (AOR=1.68, 95% CI [1.19, 2.38], p=.003). Conclusions: Passive recruitment strategies through trusted sources increased the odds of enrollment of Latinx immigrants in biobehavioral research. Future recruitment efforts should leverage trusted sources to disseminate recruitment materials addressing barriers to recruiting Latinx participants for research.

Fake Covid vaccine found in Iran – and beyond?

We are bringing this matter to our readers and regional doctors attention as sadly there is always someone prepared to prey on others misfortune. The original article is on the WHO website and they provide detail on how to identify fake vaccines and those vials that have been tampered with. It was Astra Zeneca fake vaccine discovered in the original report. https://www.who.int/news/item/04-11-2021-medical-product-alert-n-7-2021-falsified-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca It is not clear if fake vaccine is still circulating or has been fully removed from circulation but all patients, doctors, health systems and governments should remain vigilant. We stress that all vaccine should be acquired from a reliable and long trusted source. There are implications on various levels, i.e. a systemic flaw where not all vaccines in the system can be trusted and from the population health viewpoint where not all people will necessarily have the immunity they assumed they had. We also need to be aware that whatever was injected was also not necessarily harmless. Ideally the Iranian government should pay for re-vaccination as it is the national system that was flawed and ordinary Iranian people can ill afford the cost of vaccination. We have also found that immunity decreases after vaccination and after infection with COVID-19, and with new variants arising in the community, free (re)vaccination of all citizens will cover any shortfalls caused by fake vaccines and will be a positive population health approach on many levels. It has also been suggested that there may be further corruption within the system whereby casting doubt on A-Z, which is a reputable vaccine, allows some other vaccine vendors to push their own brand and after this reported subterfug,e can providers of competing vaccines/sources all be trusted? It is a systemic failure that a fake vaccine could be introduced in the first place and proper precautions need to be taken to prevent fake vaccines entering the system in all countries. POSTSCRIPT WAR: Once again we have innocent people being slaughtered by the armies of, let us be frank, evil and insane men. The dangerously mentally ill rule most of the planet. How on earth does this happen? How on earth does it still happen in 2022? Family medicine deals with the physical, mental and psychological health of all people and as Publisher of World Family Medicine Journal I feel obliged to speak up about the endless slaughter, the endlessly brutalisation, and the endless dispossession. Today it is Ukraine, yesterday it was Myanmar and who knows who it will be tomorrow. It must stop now and we have to find a way to make it stop forever as it is the biggest family medicine issue on the planet and always has been.

Building patients’ trust in psychologists in online mental health communities

Sufferers’ mental illnesses experience changes in communication, cognition, and behavior, exposing differences in social behavior and relationships. Many who suffer from mental health problems notice that the reduced communication ability leads to social inclusion and distrust of others. Online Mental Health Communities (OMHCs) facilitate a new means of communication between patients and physicians. Based on the trust source credibility framework, trust transitivity theory, social resources and physician-patient interactions, this study aims to evaluate the factors that influence patients’ trust in OMHCs. We crawled the data from Haodf.com, the leading healthcare community platform in China, to study the factors that influence patients’ trust using the ordinary least squares regression method. 725 psychologists’ records were collected on 19 November, 2019, 20 December, 2019, and 20 May, 2020. Compared with face-to-face physician appointments, Chief Physicians are more likely to gain patients’ initial trust online. Further, psychologists’ integrity, online reputation, and group size have significant positive impact on the initial trust of patients. Similarly, patients’ online initial trust and efforts have significantly positive influences on their continuous trust online. To improve relationships between physicians and patients, physicians must strengthen their clinical abilities and be honest with patients. The findings of this study provide insights into the factors that influence patients’ trust in OMHCs.

A Web-Survey Exploration of COVID-19 Knowledge, Misinformation and Sources of Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

PurposeDue to the novel and rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a widespread perpetuation of myths, rumours, and conspiracy theories about the pandemic. This has led to the emergence of an “infodemic” of fake news and distorted facts. Our study examines Nigerians’ knowledge and sources of COVID-19 information during the pandemic.Methods & MaterialsWe conducted a web-based cross-sectional survey of internet users (≥ 16 years old) resident in Nigeria targeted through snowballing sampling. The questionnaire was deployed using the JISC platform (https://www.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/) between 19th May 2020 to 18th June 2020. Descriptive statistics and chi-square (χ2) were reported while multivariable logistic regression was conducted to estimate the association between selected predictor variables and a good COVID-19 knowledge.ResultsA total of 406 respondents across all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria were recruited for the survey. Varying proportion of the respondents agreed with some of the prevailing misinformation such as the bioengineered weapon origin of COVID-19 (29.6%), and that herbal mixtures (18.7%) and antibiotics (9.1%) are efficacious cures. A lesser proportion also believed the virus was engineered for population control (9.9%) and vaccination enforcement (5.7%), as a plague caused by sins (4.7%) and a consequence of the 5G network technology (2.5%). Most respondents ranked international health organisations (73.9%) and health/public health workers (70.7%) as their most trusted sources of COVID-19 information while a comparatively lower proportion indicated their trust in government statements (40.6%) and social media sources (22.4%). Multivariable regression reveals a number of predictors of COVID-19 knowledge such as being urban settlers (OR:2.98, 95% C.I:1.05 – 8.49, p = 0.04) compared to rural dwellers; resident in the North Central zone (OR:0.53, 95% C.I:0.30 - 0.95, p = 0.03) and the Northwest zone (OR:0.20, 95% C.I:0.07 - 0.60, p = 0.004) compared to those in Southwest zone of Nigeria; and having a non-medical educational/professional background (95% C.I: 0.29 - 0.85, p = 0.01) compared to a medical/science background.ConclusionThe findings highlight factors to consider in designing proactive risk communication strategies during a disease outbreak and the importance of a targeted approach for COVID-19 health communication.