Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, 331 NE Thornton Place, Seattle, WA 98125, USA.
Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98125, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 2;18(19):10382. doi: 10.3390/ijerph181910382.
The coronavirus pandemic brought vast quantities of new information to the public for rapid consumption. This study explored how people most impacted by the pandemic have judged and perceived the quality of information regarding COVID-19 and regulated the information flow.
This was a qualitative study of semi-structured interviews developed as a pragmatic study targeting several groups most impacted by the pandemic. Participants were identified through convenience, purposive, and snowball sampling methods. They were interviewed by phone or video conference.
Twenty-five participants were interviewed between 6 April 2020 and 1 May 2020. In terms of verifying information and judging its quality, people judged information by the source. People compared information across sources and attempted to verify the quality. Most felt self-assured about their capacity to judge information. Regarding the quality of information, many participants felt the information was skewed or inaccurate. Contradictory information was confusing, especially with a strong suspicion of ulterior motives of information sources impacting trust in the provided information. Yet, some recognized the iterative process of healthcare-related information. In terms of regulating information flow, many participants perceived flooding with information. To counter information overload, some became selective with types of information input. Many developed the habit of taking breaks periodically.
Improving risk communication in a pandemic is of paramount importance. Organizations working in public health must develop ways to regulate information flow in collaboration with trusted community partners. Individuals also must develop strategies to improve information management.
冠状病毒大流行向公众迅速传播了大量新信息。本研究探讨了受大流行影响最严重的人群如何判断和感知有关 COVID-19 的信息质量，并对信息流进行了监管。
这是一项针对受大流行影响最大的几个群体的实用主义研究的定性研究，采用半结构式访谈的方式进行。参与者通过方便、有目的和滚雪球抽样方法确定。他们通过电话或视频会议接受采访。
2020 年 4 月 6 日至 5 月 1 日期间，对 25 名参与者进行了采访。在核实信息和判断其质量方面，人们根据来源判断信息。人们比较了不同来源的信息，并试图验证其质量。大多数人对自己判断信息的能力充满信心。关于信息质量，许多参与者感到信息存在偏差或不准确。相互矛盾的信息令人困惑，尤其是对信息来源的不良动机的强烈怀疑会影响对提供信息的信任。然而，一些人认识到医疗相关信息的迭代过程。在调节信息流方面，许多参与者认为信息泛滥。为了应对信息过载，一些人开始有选择地输入信息类型。许多人养成了定期休息的习惯。
改善大流行期间的风险沟通至关重要。公共卫生领域的组织必须制定与受信任的社区合作伙伴合作管理信息流的方法。个人还必须制定策略来改善信息管理。
