Sources of Health Information and Their Impacts on Medical Knowledge Perception Among the Saudi Arabian Population: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Having a reliable source for health information is vital to build a strong foundation of knowledge, especially with the current revolution of the internet and social media, which raises many concerns regarding harmful effects on the health of the public. However, there are no studies on how the Saudi Arabian population seeks health information. Details about the most used and trusted sources of health information among the public will help health authorities and public awareness accounts on social media to effectively disseminate health information. Objective To investigate the types of sources accessed by the Saudi Arabian population while seeking health information, as well as their level of trust in the sources and to assess the impact of these sources on their perception of medical knowledge and health decision-making. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to meet the objectives. The study population included both men and women who were aged 16 years or more and visited primary care clinics at King Khalid University Hospital. Four hundred and thirteen participants were sampled using the simple random method, and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (IBM Corp, Armonk, New York, USA). Results A total of 413 participants were included in this study, and of these, 99 (24.0%) were males and 206 (49.9%) had a bachelor’s degree. Doctors were chosen as the first source of information by 87.6% (283/323) of the participants, and they were completely trusted by most of the population (326/411, 79.3%). The second most commonly used source was pharmacists (112/194, 57.7%), and they were partially trusted by 41.4% (159/384) of the participants. Internet searches, social media, and traditional medicine were not prioritized by most of the participants as the first or second source of health information. The majority of the participants did not trust information obtained from social media, and WhatsApp was the most untrusted source. Almost half of the respondents (197/413, 47.7%) acknowledged that various sources of information can often help them understand their health problems. However, the majority disagreed on substituting a doctor’s prescription with information obtained from the internet or a friend or relative. Conclusions Although physicians were preferred and highly trusted, internet sources appeared to impact the medical knowledge of the population. The population still preferred to use internet search to obtain health information prior to a doctor’s visit.

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Health Care Workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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“…Recently, a survey sent to the KSA general population found that most KSA adults reported false information about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines (e.g., flu and pneumonia vaccines protect against COVID-19) ( Baig et al, 2020 ). Given that misinformation can have serious implications on worsening the spread of the virus and potentially reducing vaccine acceptance, HCWs play an important role in being a source of trusted medical information for the KSA general public ( Alduraywish et al, 2020 ).…”

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“…Many people consider the Internet to be a useful and important source of health information [6][7][8][9] that can encourage the use of preventive strategies and consultation with physicians [10]. On March 13, 2020, Google Trends reported that the term "coronavirus" was searched five million times (supplemental appendix), underlining the importance of the Internet as a source for health information.…”

COVID-19 prevention and treatment information on the internet: a systematic analysis and quality assessment

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