• Nadim Sharif, Rubayet Rayhan Opu, Khalid J Alzahrani, Shamsun Nahar Ahmed, Suchana Islam, Shika Sohoda Mim, Fariha Bushra Khan, Fariha Zaman, and Shuvra Kanti Dey.
• Department of Microbiology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, 1342, Bangladesh.
• Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2021 Sep 1; 15 (5): 102206.

BackgroundHealth information has a profound impact on developing awareness and ultimately preventing the burden of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but study in Bangladesh is lacking.AimsTherefore, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of information from social media and television in developing health awareness among people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsData was collected during December 10, 2020 to February 10, 2021 from 1808 people. Data was collected by using questionnaire about information source and their impact on COVID-19 related health measures. Pearson's correlation analyses was conducted.ResultsFemale (52%, 937 of 1808) was the most prevalent sex and the mean age was 24 ± 3.9 years. Most of the social media users were students (63%, 1131 of 1808). Social media (53%, 959 of 1808) and television (44%, 800 of 1808) were the most popular sources and Facebook (66.5%, 1203 of 1808) was the most common source of getting health information. About 87% people received health information on social media and television. Users of social media had about 3 times more likelihood to follow the health rules. About 80% participants who used social media followed the health measures after 0-28 days of getting the information. The strongest correlation was found between social distancing and the information on television (r = 0.943).ConclusionStrong correlation of health information was present among the participants in building awareness about taking preventive measures. This is the first study to describe the positive influence of information amid COVID-19 in Bangladesh.Copyright © 2021 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

30 keywords...

hide…