Background: People obtain information on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from the internet and other sources. Understanding the factors related to such information sources aids health professionals in educating individuals.
Objective: This study used data collected from the online survey study on COVID-19 in Taiwan to examine what major COVID-19 information sources are available and which sources are significantly related to the self-confidence of people in coping with COVID-19 in Taiwan.
Methods: A total of 1904 participants (1270 non-health-care workers and 634 health care workers) were recruited from the Facebook advertisement. Their major sources of information about COVID-19, the relationships between the sources and demographic factors, and the relationships between the sources and the self-confidence in coping with COVID-19 were surveyed.
Results: Most Taiwanese people relied on the internet for COVID-19 information. Many respondents also used a variety of sources of information on COVID-19; such variety was associated with sex, age, and the level of worry toward COVID-19, as well as if one was a health care worker. For health care workers, the use of formal lessons as an information source was significantly associated with better self-confidence in coping with COVID-19. The significant association between receiving information from more sources and greater self-confidence was found only in health care workers but not in non-health-care workers.
Conclusions: Medical professionals should consider subgroups of the population when establishing various means to deliver information on COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; Facebook; confidence; coping; information; internet; mental health; online health information; social media; survey.
©Peng-Wei Wang, Wei-Hsin Lu, Nai-Ying Ko, Yi-Lung Chen, Dian-Jeng Li, Yu-Ping Chang, Cheng-Fang Yen. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 05.06.2020.