Journal article
Primary Source of Information About COVID-19 as a Determinant of Perception of COVID-19 Severity and Vaccine Uptake
Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM, v 36(10), pp 3088-3095
01 Oct 2021
PMID: 34378115
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Identifying the key determinants of vaccine uptake in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is critical to increasing vaccination rates, especially for Medicare beneficiaries.
OBJECTIVE: We examined how the source of COVID-19 information shapes perceptions ofCOVID-19 severity and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Medicare beneficiaries.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We included 6478 Medicare beneficiaries from the Fall 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey COVID-19 Supplement.
MAINMEASURES: Our dependent variableswere perception of COVID-19 severity and the likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Our key independent variable was the beneficiaries' primary source of information about COVID-19 and included six mutually exclusive categories: traditional news sources, guidance from government officials, social media, other webpages/Internet, friends or family members, or health care providers.
KEY RESULTS: Compared to those relying on traditional news sources or guidance from governmental officials, those relying on other sources had lower perceptions of COVID-19 severity and lower likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Those relying on social media had the lowest levels in all measures (65.5% for those who agreed that COVID-19 is more contagious than the flu, 62.1% for thosewho agreed thatCOVID-19 ismore deadly than the flu, 87.8% for those who agreed that all should take COVID-19 precautions, and 43.3% for those who answered that they would get a COVID-19 vaccine). The likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake was also low among those relying on health care providers (55.5%). These findings remained similar even after adjusting for perceptions of COVID-19 severity in the relationship between the source of COVID-19 information and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
CONCLUSIONS: The primary source of information that Medicare beneficiaries used to learn about COVID-19 may play a critical role in shaping perceptions of COVID-19 severity and attitudes toward getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Details
- Title
- Primary Source of Information About COVID-19 as a Determinant of Perception of COVID-19 Severity and Vaccine Uptake
- Creators
- Sungchul Park - Drexel UniversityPhilip M. Massey - Drexel UniversityJim P. Stimpson - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM, v 36(10), pp 3088-3095
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 8
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Health Management and Policy; Community Health and Prevention
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000683674800001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85112221484
- Other Identifier
- 991019167551404721
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