Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China.
Library and Information Science, School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 2;19(15):9509. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159509.
Background: A worrying phenomenon has emerged in recent years: a growing number of people have stopped seeking coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) information and have started deliberately avoiding it. Even though the virulence of COVID-19 has now weakened, the proportion of severe illnesses and deaths in elderly people is still much higher than in other age groups. However, no study has focused on this topic. This is the first study to explore the level of COVID-19 information avoidance among elderly people, and to identify the barriers and potential factors associated therewith. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 907 elderly people in Wuhan, China. Data collection measures included a sociodemographic questionnaire, health information avoidance scale, information overload scale, general self-efficacy scale, and health anxiety inventory. Results: A total of 72.3% of elderly participants reported COVID-19 information avoidance. Regarding COVID-19-related information reading habits, 44.5% of the elderly only read the title, 16.0% merely skimmed through the content, and 22.9% skipped all relevant information. The most common reasons for this result were information overload (67.5%), underestimation of the infection risk (58.1%), and uselessness of information (56.4%). The main factors associated with COVID-19 information avoidance were recorded as information overload, age, health anxiety, and children (p < 0.05). Conclusions: China should strengthen its health communication regarding COVID-19 in accordance with the characteristics of elderly people, adopt more attractive publicity methods on traditional media, improve censorship about health information, and pay more attention to the childless elderly and the elderly aged 80 and above.
近年来出现了一个令人担忧的现象：越来越多的人停止主动搜索新冠病毒 2019（COVID-19）相关信息，并开始有意回避。尽管 COVID-19 的毒力已减弱，但老年人患重病和死亡的比例仍远高于其他年龄组。然而，目前尚无研究关注这一主题。本研究首次探讨了老年人 COVID-19 信息回避的程度，并确定了相关的障碍和潜在因素。方法：采用便利抽样法，在中国武汉招募了 907 名老年人。数据收集措施包括社会人口学问卷、健康信息回避量表、信息过载量表、一般自我效能感量表和健康焦虑量表。结果：共有 72.3%的老年参与者报告 COVID-19 信息回避。在 COVID-19 相关信息阅读习惯方面，44.5%的老年人只阅读标题，16.0%只是浏览内容，22.9%则跳过所有相关信息。出现这种结果的最常见原因是信息过载（67.5%）、低估感染风险（58.1%）和信息无用（56.4%）。与 COVID-19 信息回避相关的主要因素包括信息过载、年龄、健康焦虑和子女（p<0.05）。结论：中国应根据老年人的特点加强 COVID-19 健康传播，在传统媒体上采用更具吸引力的宣传方式，完善健康信息审查，并更加关注无子女的老年人和 80 岁以上的老年人。
