Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil.
Laboratory of Immunology and Bioinformatics, Institute of Biological and Natural Sciences, Federal University of Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Jan 21;7(1):e24756. doi: 10.2196/24756.
COVID-19 is a highly transmissible illness caused by SARS-CoV-2. The disease has affected more than 200 countries, and the measures that have been implemented to combat its spread, as there is still no vaccine or definitive medication, have been based on supportive interventions and drug repositioning. Brazil, the largest country in South America, has had more than 140,000 recorded deaths and is one of the most affected countries. Despite the extensive quantity of scientifically recognized information, there are still conflicting discussions on how best to face the disease and the virus, especially with regard to social distancing, preventive methods, and the use of medications.
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the Brazilian population's basic knowledge about COVID-19 to demonstrate how Brazilians are managing to identify scientifically proven information.
A cross-sectional study design was used. An original online questionnaire survey was administered from June 16 to August 21, 2020, across all five different geopolitical regions of the country (ie, the North, Northeast, Center-West, Southeast, and South). The questionnaire was comprised of questions about basic aspects of COVID-19, such as the related symptoms, conduct that should be followed when suspected of infection, risk groups, prevention, transmission, and social distancing. The wrong questionnaire response alternatives were taken from the fake news combat website of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Participants (aged ≥18 years) were recruited through social networking platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. The mean distributions, frequencies, and similarities or dissimilarities between the responses for the different variables of the study were evaluated. The significance level for all statistical tests was less than .05.
A total of 4180 valid responses representative of all the states and regions of Brazil were recorded. Most respondents had good knowledge about COVID-19, getting an average of 86.59% of the total score with regard to the basic aspects of the disease. The region, education level, age, sex, and social condition had a significant association (P<.001) with knowledge about the disease, which meant that women, the young, those with higher education levels, nonrecipients of social assistance, and more economically and socially developed regions had more correct answers.
Overall, Brazilians with social media access have a good level of basic knowledge about COVID-19 but with differences depending on the analyzed subgroup. Due to the limitation of the platform used in carrying out the study, care should be taken when generalizing the study findings to populations with less education or who are not used to accessing social networking platforms.
COVID-19 是一种由 SARS-CoV-2 引起的高度传染性疾病。该疾病已影响 200 多个国家，由于目前尚无疫苗或特效药，因此实施的防控措施主要基于支持性干预和药物再利用。巴西是南美洲最大的国家，记录的死亡人数已超过 14 万，是受影响最严重的国家之一。尽管有大量经过科学验证的信息，但对于如何最好地应对疾病和病毒，尤其是在社交距离、预防方法和药物使用方面，仍存在争议。
本研究的主要目的是评估巴西民众对 COVID-19 的基本知识，以证明巴西人如何能够识别科学验证的信息。
本研究采用横断面研究设计。从 2020 年 6 月 16 日至 8 月 21 日，在全国五个不同的地理区域（即北部、东北部、中西部、东南部和南部）开展了一项原创的在线问卷调查。问卷包含 COVID-19 的基本方面，如相关症状、疑似感染时应采取的措施、高危人群、预防、传播和社交距离等问题。错误的问卷答案取自巴西卫生部的虚假新闻打击网站。参与者（年龄≥18 岁）通过 Facebook、WhatsApp 和 Twitter 等社交网络平台招募。评估了研究不同变量的平均值分布、频率以及相似性或差异性。所有统计检验的显著性水平均小于 0.05。
共记录了 4180 份来自巴西所有州和地区的有效回复。大多数受访者对 COVID-19 有很好的了解，在疾病的基本方面平均获得了 86.59%的总分。地区、教育水平、年龄、性别和社会状况与疾病知识显著相关（P<.001），这意味着女性、年轻人、受教育程度较高、未领取社会援助金和经济社会发展程度较高地区的人有更多正确答案。
总体而言，有社交媒体访问权限的巴西人对 COVID-19 有较好的基本知识水平，但根据分析的亚组存在差异。由于研究中使用的平台存在限制，在将研究结果推广到教育程度较低或不常使用社交网络平台的人群时，应谨慎对待。
