The COVID-19 Infodemic

García-Saisó, Sebastián; Marti, Myrna; Brooks, Ian; Curioso, Walter H.; González, Diego; Malek, Victoria; Medina, Felipe Mejía; Radix, Carlene; Otzoy, Daniel; Zacarías, Soraya; Santos, Eliane Pereira dos; D’Agostino, Marcelo

doi:10.26633/rpsp.2021.56

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Fear, anxiety, depression, and stress are common psychological reactions to the current pandemic 1 , 2 and are promoted and perpetuated by a wide spectrum of variables, such as disinformation, social distancing measures, the economic crisis, and exposure to media. 3 – 5 The overwhelming amount of information and the lack of precise conclusions generate confusion and panic and lead to distorted interpretations of the facts, 5 promoting behaviors that negatively affect health, 6 including self-medication. 7 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-medication and the ‘infodemic’ during mandatory preventive isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Gaviria‐Mendoza

Mejía-Mazo

Duarte-Blandón

et al. 2022

Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety

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Aim: Quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic altered the supply and demand of health services. This, together with the ‘infodemic’ and generalized panic, could alter the patterns of self-medication in the population. The objective was to characterize the patterns of self-medication in four cities of Colombia during mandatory preventive isolation in 2020. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done in four Colombian cities during mandatory national preventive isolation between June and September 2020. A sample of 397 adults who responded to an online survey, based on the Instrument for Systematic Data Collection for Self-medication ( Instrumento de Recolección Sistemática de Datos para la Automedicación–IRIS-AM), was obtained. The use of social networks (including WhatsApp) as the source of information about medications was explored. Results: The 397 people surveyed had a median age of 31.0 years, and 58.2% were women. The prevalence of self-medication during lockdown was 34.3% ( n = 136). Medications targeting the nervous system ( n = 117; 86.0% of those participants with self-medication) and the musculoskeletal system ( n = 68; 50.0%) were the most commonly used. Ten (7.4%) of the self-medicated patients reported doing so to prevent COVID-19, and 15 (11.0%) named social networks as the source of information. Conclusion: More than one-third of the participants reported self-medication during COVID-19 lockdown, mainly with analgesic-type nervous system medications. People who reported self-medication to prevent COVID-19 often got their information from social networks, the Internet, and WhatsApp. Plain Language Summary Self-medication during mandatory COVID-19 isolation Introduction: Self-medication refers to the use of medications to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, and it can lead to health problems. This habit is widely practiced by the people, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The objective was to characterize the patterns of self-medication in four cities of Colombia during mandatory preventive isolation in 2020 due the quarantine by COVID-19 explored pandemic. Methods: We made a cross-sectional study between June and September 2020, and a sample of 397 adults who responded to an online survey. The use of social networks (including WhatsApp) as the source of information about medications was explored. Results: The prevalence of self-medication during lockdown was 34.3% ( n = 136). Medications targeting the nervous system ( n = 117; 86.0% of those participants with self-medication) and the musculoskeletal system (strategies n = 68; 50.0%) were the most commonly used. Conclusion: People who reported self-medication to prevent COVID-19 often got their information from social networks, the Internet, and WhatsApp. These findings raise the possibility of designing pedagogical strategies on this topic.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-medication and the ‘infodemic’ during mandatory preventive isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Gaviria‐Mendoza

Mejía-Mazo

Duarte-Blandón

et al. 2022

Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety

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“…Involvement of social media companies in distributing accurate information (23) Responsible participation of community members in social dialogue (24) Strategies developed for collaboration between governments, care institutions and technology, communication companies, and other stakeholders (25,26) Formation of strategic partnerships among all involved parties, including social media and technology sectors, universities, and civil society ( 19)…”

Section: Responsible Participatory Actionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Promoting long-term public health literacy (20) Adopt strategies to increase public health literacy about pandemic conditions (35) Answers to questions and misinformation in society (19) In case of doubt about the accuracy of the information, do not share the news (24) Establish awareness campaigns in rural communities to ensure access to reliable information (36) Launching ways to improve health literacy in rural African communities (36) Informing people about how to protect themselves and the community in a health emergency (19) Increasing people's access to knowledge transformed into simple messages ( 19)…”

Section: Improving People's Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infodemic Challenges During COVID-19 Pandemic and the Strategies to Deal with Them: A Review Article

Aslani

Behmanesh

Davoodi

et al. 2022

Arch Clin Infect Dis

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Context: The phenomenon of infodemic following the outbreak of COVID-19 has led to several adverse public health consequences. Infodemic poses challenges at the community level, and identifying and adopting effective strategies against it can address many of these challenges. The present study aimed to determine the infodemic challenges of COVID-19 and the strategy to deal with them. Evidence acquisition: We searched PubMed and Scopus scientific databases using related keywords up to April 2022. The article selection process was based on the study’s inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extraction was carried out using a data extraction form. We analyzed the extracted data through the content analyses method. Results: We identified infodemic challenges from related studies and classified them into nine main categories. These challenges included social hazards, improper health behavior, and scientific hazards. Other results show that strategies to deal with COVID-19 and other similar conditions can be classified into seven main categories, including the active confrontation with centers and scientific sources, the effective intervention of health care professionals, responsible participatory actions, actions of governments and authorities, monitoring and identifying incorrect information, heightening people’s awareness, and encouragement for vaccination. Conclusions: In this study, we identified and reported different coping strategies from all around the world that are very broad, and different countries and societies can use appropriate methods according to their situations and characteristics. Efforts to disseminate accurate information and prevent the propagation of incorrect information during a pandemic crisis can be vital.

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“…According to the WHO, an ‘abundance of information’, irrespective of its accuracy reflected as massive infodemic, has been witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 12 In this issue, Heidi Ghanem et al have presented and discussed the analysis on use of social media in epidemic and pandemic response in the EMR. The analysis emphasises that real-time, transparent and relevant information posted on different social media platforms, especially governmental official social media accounts, contributed to strengthening the early detection and follow-up of public health events in the Region.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the WHO, an ‘abundance of information’, irrespective of its accuracy reflected as massive infodemic, has been witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic 12. In this issue, Heidi Ghanem et al have presented and discussed the analysis on use of social media in epidemic and pandemic response in the EMR.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from COVID-19 to prevent and prepare for pandemics in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 Infodemic

Cited by 22 publications

References 2 publications

Self-medication and the ‘infodemic’ during mandatory preventive isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Self-medication and the ‘infodemic’ during mandatory preventive isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Infodemic Challenges During COVID-19 Pandemic and the Strategies to Deal with Them: A Review Article

Learning from COVID-19 to prevent and prepare for pandemics in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

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