Experiences of Online COVID-19 Information Acquisition among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes and Varying eHealth Literacy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants and Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
2.4. Ethical Considerations
3. Results
3.1. Perceived Challenges with Online Information about COVID-19
3.1.1. Being Exposed to Information Overload
A large amount of information is not always something good. I feel that the more information I obtain, the more perplexed I get. (Interviewee 1, low eHL).
3.1.2. Facing Conflicting Information
There are exaggerated news reports. The media loves to inflate all possible news when given the opportunity. (Survey-A2, high eHL).
3.1.3. Being Strongly Emotionally Affected
You get fed up with all these death rates. It’s just… You end up getting blind to it and kind of stop caring. But it doesn’t feel right. It’s terrible to say, but it gets kind of worn out. I mean, it’s horrible with all these people dying, but you are like: ‘Ok, only 32 deaths today.’ Somehow, you get a little jaded. (Interviewee 3, high eHL).
3.2. Coping Strategies to Manage Challenges
3.2.1. Protecting Oneself
I have NOT done searches about corona and diabetes, and I think it is out of fear. Fear of reading something that I don’t want to know about myself. Because I also have trouble accepting that I have diabetes. It’s a defence mechanism. I put my head in the sand. That’s it. I can’t handle it. (Survey-E8K, low eHL).
3.2.2. Trusting Authorities
Well, in the beginning, quite a few professors gave their opinion in the media and had quite a lot to say, and when reading it, you like… Well, you got a little ambivalent. You have to take a stand on whom to trust. And that doesn’t necessarily have to always be correct, but you sort of need something to hold on to, because otherwise, it gets very shaky. (Interviewee 4, low eHL).
3.2.3. Taking Command
Well, you read something but think, ‘Well, this cannot be true. Is it supposed to be like this?’ Then you try to juggle thoughts and discuss with someone, like, ‘What do you think?’ One gets a little unsure and might need confirmation of the feeling that the information is not credible… And then if the other one agrees, you mutually decide that it isn’t true.You kind of need support, a sounding board. (Interviewee 2, high eHL).
3.2.4. Using Common Sense
I trust my common sense. I use my previous experiences, from life and from contacts I have had with healthcare. And also from my educational background, like risk analyses and things like that. I immediately think along these lines. In the light of my own life experience and knowledge acquisition, I feel somewhat in control of the situation. (Survey-A17, high eHL).
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Questionnaire Sample | Interviewees | |
---|---|---|
Total sample (n) | 58 | 10 |
Sex | ||
Male | 30 (51.7) | 5 (50.0) |
Female | 28 (48.3) | 5 (50.0) |
Age, median (range) | 73 (41–82) | 66 (45–81) |
Education | ||
Elementary school or less | 14 (24.1) | 1 (10.0) |
Secondary school or vocational | 22 (37.9) | 2 (20.0) |
University | 22 (37.9) | 7 (70.0) |
eHEALS (mean 26.67) | ||
Low eHealth literacy (<26.0) | 23 (39.7) | 6 (60.0) |
High eHealth literacy (≥26.0) | 35 (60.3) | 4 (40.0) |
Perceived Challenges with Online Information about COVID-19 | Coping Strategies to Manage Challenges |
---|---|
Being exposed to information overload | Protecting oneself |
Facing conflicting information | Trusting authorities |
Being strongly emotionally affected | Taking command |
Using common sense |
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Sjöström, A.; Hajdarevic, S.; Hörnsten, Å.; Öberg, U.; Isaksson, U. Experiences of Online COVID-19 Information Acquisition among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes and Varying eHealth Literacy. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 13240. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413240
Sjöström A, Hajdarevic S, Hörnsten Å, Öberg U, Isaksson U. Experiences of Online COVID-19 Information Acquisition among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes and Varying eHealth Literacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(24):13240. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413240
Chicago/Turabian StyleSjöström, Anna, Senada Hajdarevic, Åsa Hörnsten, Ulrika Öberg, and Ulf Isaksson. 2021. "Experiences of Online COVID-19 Information Acquisition among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes and Varying eHealth Literacy" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 24: 13240. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413240