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. 2021 Dec 10;43(4):695-702.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab028.

Acceptance of a Covid-19 vaccine is associated with ability to detect fake news and health literacy

I Montagni  1 , K Ouazzani-Touhami  1   2 , A Mebarki  3 , N Texier  3   4 , S Schück  3   4 , C Tzourio  1 ; CONFINS group
Affiliations

Acceptance of a Covid-19 vaccine is associated with ability to detect fake news and health literacy

I Montagni et al. J Public Health (Oxf). .

Abstract

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic fake news has been circulating impacting on the general population's opinion about a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2. Health literacy measures the capacity of navigating health information.

Methods: We used data from a prospective national online cohort of 1647 participants. Descriptive statistics, Chi2 and ANOVA independence tests and two multivariable multinomial regression models were performed. Interactions between each variable were tested.

Results: Detection of fake news and health literacy scores were associated with intention to get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (p < 0.01). The risk of being "anti-vaccination" or "hesitant", rather than "pro-vaccination", was higher among individuals reporting bad detection of fake news, respectively OR = 1.93 (95%CI = [1.30;2.87]) and OR = 1.80 (95%CI = [1.29;2.52]). The risk of being in "hesitant", rather than "pro-vaccination" was higher among individuals having a bad health literacy score (OR = 1.44; 95%CI = [1.04;2.00]). No interaction was found between detection of fake news and health literacy.

Conclusions: To promote acceptance of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, it is recommended to increase individuals' ability to detect fake news and health literacy through education and communication programs.

Keywords: Covid-19; fake news; health literacy; misinformation; vaccination.

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Figures

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Study flow-chart.
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