Medical students’ awareness and infodemic management capacity: A descriptive study from Türkiye

An Erratum to this article was published on August 9, 2025. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/tjph/article/1759362

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the awareness and infodemic management capacity of medical students at three different medical faculties in Türkiye. Method: Conducted as a descriptive study, an online survey via Google Forms® was distributed to students from three medical faculties throughout 2023-2024 academic year. The survey aimed to evaluate students’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceived readiness concerning infodemic management. Results: The participants were predominantly female (58.2%) with a mean age of 21.2 years, and all were single. Notably, 67.9% of the students had not previously heard of infodemic. However, a significant majority recognized the infodemic as a global threat (92.5%), beyond Coronavirus Disease-2019 (99.3%), with negative health impacts (93.3%), including fatalities (70.9%). Despite this, only 55.9% believed that infodemics are preventable. Importantly, 94.8% acknowledged the role of doctors in managing infodemics. Conclusion: The study highlights a gap in the medical curriculum regarding infodemic management training, as transparency and the importance of managing infodemics are not fully appreciated by all students. These findings suggest the necessity of integrating infodemic management training into medical education to better equip future healthcare professionals. This research adds to the limited scientific literature on infodemic management and underscores the need for enhanced proficiency among medical students in this emerging field.

Keywords

• Infodemic
• Medical Students
• Physician Role
• Medical Education

References

1. World Health Organization. Infodemic [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/infodemic#tab=tab_1. Accessed June 15, 2024.
2. Aslan D. Halk Sağlığı Bakış Açısıyla İnfodemi Yönetimi. Hipokrat Yayıncılık; 2022.
3. Torpan S, Hansson S, Rhinard M, Ewing M. Handling false information in emergency management: A cross-national com-parative study of European practices. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2021;57:102151.
4. Zarocostas J. How to fight an infodemic. Lancet. 2020;395(10225):676.
5. Eysenbach G. How to fight an infodemic: The four pillars of infodemi management. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(6):e21820.
6. Jakovljevic M, Bjedov S, Mustac F, Jakovljevic I. COVID-19 infodemic and public trust from the perspective of public and global mental health. Psychiatr Danub. 2020;32(3-4):449-457.
7. Dubey S, Biswas P, Ghosh R, Chatterjee S, Dubey MJ, Chatterjee S, et al. Psychosocial impact of COVID-19. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2020;14(5):779-788.
8. Scott J. Managing the infodemic about COVID-19: Strategies for clinicians and researchers. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2021;143(5):377-379.

9. Canavera K. Rebuilding trust. Patient Educ Couns. 2021;104(5):996-997.
10. UÇEP. Ulusal Çekirdek Eğitim Programı [online]. Available at https://www.yok.gov.tr/Documents/Kurumsal/egitim_ogretim_dairesi/Ulusal-cekirdek-egitimi-programlari/mezuniyet-oncesi-tip-egitimi-cekirdek-egitimi-programi.pdf Accessed June 15, 2024.
11. Choi S. The coronavirus disease 2019 infodemic: a concept analysis. Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 25;12:1362009. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1362009. PMID: 38726229; PMCID: PMC11081101
12. HUMF. Learning to be a physician program, social responsibility program. Phase I, Hacettepe [online] Available at: https://medinfo.hacettepe.edu.tr/en/menu/undergraduate_education-27 Accessed June 15, 2024.
13. Zhou Y, Zhang A, Liu X, Tan X, Miao R, Zhang Y, Wang J. Protecting public’s wellbeing against COVID-19 infodemic: The role of trust in information sources and rapid dissemination and transparency of information over time. Front Public Health. 2023;11:1142230.
14. World Health Organization. Infodemic management courses. [online] Available at: https://openwho.org/channels/infodemic-management Accessed June 15, 2024.
15. Briand S, Hess S, Nguyen T, et al. Infodemic Management in the Twenty-First Century. 2023 May 10. In: Purnat TD, Ngu-yen T, Briand S, editors. Managing Infodemics in the 21st Century: Addressing New Public Health Challenges in the Infor-mation Ecosystem [Internet]. Cham (CH): Springer; 2023. Chapter 1. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK609021/ doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-27789-4_1.
16. Bin Naeem S, Kamel Boulos MN. COVID-19 misinformation online and health literacy: A brief overview. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(15):8091.
17. Chiou H, Voegeli C, Wilhelm E, Kolis J, Brookmeyer K, Prybylski D. The future of infodemic surveillance as public health surveillance. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022;28(13):S121-S128.
18. De Angelis L, Baglivo F, Arzilli G, Privitera GP, Ferragina P, Tozzi AE, Rizzo C. ChatGPT and the rise of large language models: The new AI-driven infodemic threat in public health. Front Public Health. 2023;11:1166120.