An Infodemia Experience from the First Months of the Pandemic, Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects are still ongoing. The present study was aimed to determine the status of participants in Turkey regarding whether they believe the rumors about COVID-19 in the first months of the pandemic, obtain information about their implementation of the protection measures of the Ministry of Health, and identify their perceptions on ending the pandemic in Turkey and the World.

Materials and Methods: A survey containing some questions about COVID-19 which designed as descriptive epidemiological research was applied to 694 individuals between the ages of 18 and 65, who lived in Turkey and actively used their social media accounts. Descriptive statistics were used in summarizing the data, whereas chi-square analysis was used in the comparison of the groups. In statistical analysis, the significance value was accepted as p<0.05.

Results: The lowest percentage of believing the misinformation on COVID-19 among the participants (38.4%) is "Regularly rinsing the mouth and nose with saline water prevents the new coronavirus disease". The percentage of the healthcare workers who believed the false information about COVID-19 was significantly lower (p=0.004, p<0.001, and p<0.001, respectively) but not at the desired level. In terms of ending COVID-19, the future predictions of the participants were more optimistic for Turkey than all over the world.

Conclusion: There was the spread of false information among the participants, and this was not at the desired level, even among the healthcare workers

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Misinformation
• Optimistic
• Rumor.
• measurement

Pandeminin İlk Aylarından Bir İnfodemi Deneyimi, Türkiye

Abstract

Amaç: COVID-19 pandemisi ve etkileri hala devam etmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye’de yaşayan katılımcıların COVID-19 hakkındaki söylentilere inanma durumlarını belirlemek, Sağlık Bakanlığı’nın korunma önlemlerini uygulamalarına ilişkin bilgi edinebilmek ve Türkiye’de ve dünyada salgının sonlanmasına ilişkin görüşlerini tespit etmek amaçlanmıştır.

Araçlar ve Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı tipteki epidemiyolojik araştırmada, Türkiye’de yaşayan sosyal medya hesaplarını aktif olarak kullanan 18-65 yaş arası 694 kişiye COVID-19 ile ilgili bazı soruları içeren bir anket uygulanmıştır. Verilerin özetlenmesinde (frekans, yüzde ve ortalama gibi) tanımlayıcı istatistiklerden, grupların karşılaştırmasında ise ki-kare analizlerinden faydalanılmıştır. İstatistiksel analizlerde anlamlılık değeri p<0.05 olarak kabul edilmiştir.

Bulgular: Katılımcılar arasında COVID-19 ile ilgili yanlış bilgiye inanma yüzdesinin (%38.4) en düşük olduğu ifade şudur: “Ağzı ve burnu düzenli olarak tuzlu su ile çalkalamak yeni koronavirüs hastalığını önler”. Sağlık çalışanlarında COVID-19 ile ilgili yanlış bilgiye inanma yüzdesi anlamlı derecede düşüktür (sırasıyla p=0.004, p<0.001 ve p<0.001), ancak istenilen düzeyde değildir. Katılımcıların COVID-19’un sonlanması hususunda, Türkiye hakkındaki gelecek öngörüleri Dünyaya göre daha iyimserdi.

Sonuç: Çalışmaya katılanlar arasında yanlış bilgilerin yayılımı söz konusu olup bu durum sağlık çalışanları arasında dahi istenilen düzeyde değildir. 

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Ölçüm
• Yanlış Bilgi
• İyimser
• Söylenti.

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