Abstract
Background
COVID-19 has developed into a worldwide pandemic which was accompanied by an «infodemic» consisting of much false and misleading information. To cope with these new challenges, health literacy plays an essential role. The aim of this paper is to present the fndings of a trend study in Switzerland on corona-specifc health literacy, the use of and trust in information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their relationships.
Methods
Three online surveys each with approximately 1′020 individuals living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (age≥18 years) were conducted at diferent timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely spring, fall and winter 2020. For the assessment of corona-specifc health literacy, a specifcally developed instrument (HLSCOVID-Q22) was used. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate data analyses have been conducted.
Results
In general, a majority of the Swiss-German population reported sufcient corona-specifc health literacy levels which increased during the pandemic: 54.6% participants in spring, 62.4% in fall and 63.3% in winter 2020 had sufcient corona-specifc health literacy. Greatest difculties concerned the appraisal of health information on the coronavirus. The most used information sources were television (used by 73.3% in spring, 70% in fall and 72.3% in winter) and the internet (used by 64.1, 64.8 and 66.5%). Although health professionals, health authorities and the info-hotline were rarely mentioned as sources for information on the coronavirus, respondents had greatest trust in them. On the other hand, social media were considered as the least trustworthy information sources. Respondents generally reporting more trust in the various information sources, tended to have higher corona-specifc health literacy levels.
Conclusion
Sufcient health literacy is an essential prerequisite for fnding, understanding, appraising, and applying health recommendations, particularly in a situation where there is a rapid spread of a huge amount of information. The population should be supported in their capability in appraising the received information and in assessing the trustworthiness of diferent information sources.
