Misinformation about medication during the COVID– 19 pandemic: A perspective of medical staff

Abstract

Background Healthcare professionals had to face numerous challenges during the pandemic, their professional activity being influenced not only by the virus, but also by the spread of medical misinformation. In this regard, we aimed to analyze, from the perspective of medical staff, the way medical and non—medical information about the virus was communicated during the pandemic to encourage the development of future research or interventions in order to raise awareness about the way misinformation affected medical staff. Methods and findings The study was conducted on Romanian healthcare professionals. They were asked to answer to a questionnaire and the sample of the research includes 536 respondents. The findings revealed that most respondents stated that information about alternative treatments against the virus affected the credibility of health professionals, and that younger professionals believed to a greater extent that trust in doctors was affected. The research also showed that respondents were well informed about the drugs used in clinical trials in order to treat the virus. Conclusions Healthcare professionals declared that the spread of misinformation regarding alternative treatments, affected their credibility and the relationship with their patients. Healthcare professionals had knowledge about the drugs used in clinical trials, and they acknowledged the role of social media in spreading medical misinformation. However, younger professionals also believed that social media could be used to share official information about the virus.

Influence of Clinical Factors on the Quality of Life in Romanian People with Epilepsy—A Follow-Up Study in Real-Life Clinical Practice

“…The hospital where the research took place was listed among the national hospitals that treated patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus as of April 2020. The new pandemic produced a series of limitations in the ability to provide medical assistance related to the activities of medical staff but also to the medical and public health intervention [29,30]. These limitations include, in the case of PWE, the inability to use the only VEEG unit in the county, located in one of the sections of the hospital that has become a support health unit for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.…”

Facilitators and barriers of digital health technologies implementation in hospital settings in lower-income and middle-income countries since the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review protocol

“…While such booming demonstrated the tremendous potential of the DHTs, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and accentuated some new challenges of DHTs implementation, which were not identified in the prepandemic era. One of the challenges that was encountered during the rise of DHTs amidst the pandemic was the increased spread of misinformation concerning the vaccination programme21 and fake news on remedies for COVID-19 22. New ethical concerns and the insufficient regulations of DHTs have also surfaced during the pandemic 23.…”

“…One of the challenges that was encountered during the rise of DHTs amidst the pandemic was the increased spread of misinformation concerning the vaccination programme 21 and fake news on remedies for COVID-19. 22 New ethical concerns and the insufficient regulations of DHTs have also surfaced during the pandemic. 23 Despite the availability of many mobile health applications, the COVID-19 contract tracing mobile applications, which were adopted by many countries globally, have failed to demonstrate their effectiveness in controlling the deadly disease in real-world implementation.…”

Against Authority: The Bioethics of Ivermectin Use for COVID-19 Infection

“…The specialized literature has been flooded with articles dedicated to COVID-19, from documents related to medication or vaccination, its use, from medical aspects to ethical aspects, from meta-analyses to case studies, all in an attempt to replace lack of valid therapeutic guidelines or prophylactic schemes, at a time when stress and burnout influenced the decision-making capacity. 53–55…”

“…The specialized literature has been flooded with articles dedicated to COVID-19, from documents related to medication or vaccination, its use, from medical aspects to ethical aspects, from meta-analyses to case studies, all in an attempt to replace lack of valid therapeutic guidelines or prophylactic schemes, at a time when stress and burnout influenced the decision-making capacity. [53][54][55] To analyze the bioethical issues of the use of ivermectin in COVID-19, a narrative review of the specialized literature was carried out using keywords such as COVID-19, ivermectin, ethics, and off-label medication from Scopus and Google Scholar and official documents developed at the international level.…”