The Effect of Fear of COVID-19 on Health Information Searching Behavior
During the Pandemic
Abstract
Fear can cause people to panic, make wrong decisions, and behave
inappropriately. This study aims to investigate the effects of fear of
COVID-19 on the perception of the reliability and the use of health
information sources. The participants in this study were 323 students
attending a state university in Turkey. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale
(FCV-19S) and the Health Information Sources Survey were used as data
collection tools. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to
determine the relationships between the perception of the reliability of
health information sources and their use. Simple linear regression
analyses were used to determine the effect of fear on the perception of
the reliability of health information sources and their use. The
participants’ mean FCV-19S score was 2.30±0.93 on a five-point Likert
scale. As a result of the evaluations made, in the range of 0–10, the
information source with the highest reliability perception mean score
was the doctor (7.10±2.74), whereas that with the highest usage was the
Internet (7.98±2.77). Although the fear of COVID-19 had a negative
effect on Internet use ( b =-0.38; p<0.05), the
effects on the use of other health information sources was positive (
b=0.37-0.83; p<0.05). Trust in radio (
b=0.60; p<0.05) and newspapers/magazines (
b=0.49; p<0.05) also increased with fear. These
results showed that as university students’ fear of COVID-19 increased,
the use of the Internet for health information decreased; however, use
of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health workers, scientific
articles, television, radio, and newspapers/journals increased. The
findings can guide health policies to be followed. Talks of health
professionals and their videos with both educational and scientific
content should be given more space on the Internet, social media,
traditional media, and other mass media.