Author ORCID Identifier
Olagoke - https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0271-4069
Hughes - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1431-3396
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-3-2022
Publication Title
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
First Page
1
Last Page
6
Abstract
Objective:
The main objective of this study was to examine the association between COVID-19 information search activities and vaccination intention.
Methods:
Cross-sectional data were collected using online surveys. Independent variables included COVID-19 information search on the (1) science of viral effects of COVID-19 on the body, (2) origin of COVID-19, (3) symptoms and outcomes, (4) transmission and prevention, (5) future outbreak, and (6) policies/procedures to follow. The outcome variable was vaccination intention. A multivariable regression analysis was conducted.
Results:
Participants (N = 501) had a mean age of 32.44 ± 11.94 years, were 55.3% female, and 67.9% were white. Most COVID-19 information searches were on symptoms and outcomes (77.7%) and policies/procedures to follow (69.9%). Intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 was higher among participants who searched for information on the science of viral effects of COVID-19 on the body (β = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.03-0.43; P = 0.03) and policies/procedures to follow (β = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.03-0.41; P = 0.02).
Conclusions:
People who searched for information about (1) the science of viral effects of COVID-19 and (2) policies/procedures recommendations also reported higher vaccination intention. Risk communication seeking to increase vaccination should meet the consumers’ information demand by prioritizing the scientific rationale for COVID-19 vaccination and by clarifying what policies/procedures are recommended.
Recommended Citation
Olagoke AA, Floyd B, Adebayo CT, Owoyemi A, Hughes AM. The content of COVID-19 information searches and vaccination intention: An implication for risk communication. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/ dmp.2022.257.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
This is an open access article that was published through the Open Access Publishing agreement between Cambridge University Press and the University of Nebraska.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ dmp.2022.257
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.