Open AccessROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON INFORMATION SHARED ABOUT COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A PERCEPTION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS
Author(s) -
Shrivatshan M.S. B,
Dr.Remya.K. J,
Vinoth Gnana Chellaiyan. D
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of scientific research
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.36106/ijsr/7001045
Subject(s) - misinformation , newspaper , social media , covid-19 , pandemic , psychology , medical education , perception , social distance , family medicine , medicine , sociology , political science , media studies , disease , pathology , neuroscience , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
The emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak affected the attention of social media and press. But there are too many sources and sites through which any one can obtain information, and many of them are not credible which resulted in misinformation and difficulties to distinguish between rumours and realitySubjects and Methods:Cross sectional study was conducted online and 519 students of both sexes belonging to the age group of 18 – 55 years studying medicine and allied health courses in various universities of India participated. Data collection procedure: An online questionnaire of 11 questions as Google forms was created in English and circulated for 3 months in different university students via email to collect the data related to their social media usage during the pandemic COVID-19. Results382 (73.6%) participants in this study were less than 20 years old. Females participated, N = 320 (61.7%) more than the males, N=199 (38.3%) in this study. Since this study was circulated predominantly in medical students group, 417 out of 519 (80.3%) were medical professionals. About 46 people who are residing outside India also participated in this study. TV/Radio/ Newspaper were the most searched source of information about COVID-19 among the youth of this part of the India accounting for 50.5% (N=262). A significant association was found between Medical professionals and verification of the authenticity of COVID-19 information (P = 0.04) and Gender of the participants with the influence of the information about COVID-19 from different sources (P = 0.005). The association was found significant between age group and “social media influencers and/or celebrities impact on your information sources” (P = 0.004). Conclusion: Students in India are clear in their perception on receiving information about COVID-19 through social media.