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. 2023 Jan 3;18(1):e0279393.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279393. eCollection 2023.

Trustworthiness of information sources on vaccines for COVID-19 prevention among Brazilians

Adriana Teixeira Reis  1   2 , Karla Gonçalves Camacho  2   3 , Maria de Fátima Junqueira-Marinho  4 , Saint Clair Dos Santos Gomes Junior  4 , Dimitri Marques Abramov  4 , Livia Almeida de Menezes  3 , Marcio Fernandes Nehab  3 , Carlos Eduardo da Silva Figueiredo  3 , Maria Elisabeth Lopes Moreira  4 , Zilton Farias Meira de Vasconcelos  5 , Flavia Amendola Anisio de Carvalho  3 , Livia de Rezende de Mello  6 , Roberta Fernandes Correia  3 , Zina Maria Almeida de Azevedo  3   7 , Margarida Dos Santos Salú  3   8 , Daniella Campelo Batalha Cox Moore  3   9
Affiliations

Trustworthiness of information sources on vaccines for COVID-19 prevention among Brazilians

Adriana Teixeira Reis et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to assess the trustworthiness of information sources, perception of clear information about the vaccine, and strategies to increase adherence to vaccination to provide managers with information that helps establish effective communication with the population about vaccination.

Method: This is an online survey conducted between January 22 and 29, 2021, preceded by an Informed Consent, that aims to assess vaccine hesitancy, which corresponded to the first week of vaccination initiation to prevent COVID-19 in Brazil. Data were obtained from a questionnaire made available through a free platform and stored in Google Forms and later exported to the SPSS statistical package for analysis. The sample consisted of all questionnaires from participants who self-declared as age 18 or older, Brazilian, and residing in Brazil at the time of the survey. Incomplete records with more than 50% of blank items and duplicates were excluded. All categorical variables were analyzed from their absolute and relative frequencies. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to verify the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables.

Results: The results show that trust in information sources diverges between hesitant and non-hesitant. They also showed that some participants show an overall distrust that seems to have deeper foundations than issues related only to the source of information. The high rejection of television and the WHO as sources of information among hesitant suggests that integrated actions with research institutes, public figures vaccinating, and religious leaders can help to combat vaccine hesitation. Two actors become particularly important in this dynamic, both for good and bad, and their anti-vaxxer behavior must be observed: the doctor and the Ministry of Health.

Conclusion: This study contributes to gathering valuable information to help understand the behavior and thinking relevant to the adherence to vaccination recommendations.

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Conflict of interest statement

No authors have competing interests.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Clarity perceived about vaccine information between hesitant and non-hesitant (N = 172,314).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Number of participants who gave their opinion on the understanding of vaccine efficacy data according to vaccine hesitancy.
(N = 172,366 respondents, with 154,237 not hesitant and 18,129 hesitant).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Brazilians perceived trustworthiness of sources of information about the vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 according to vaccine hesitancy (n = 173,178, with 18,250 hesitant and 154,928 non-hesitant).
Some participants did not report trustworthiness in some information sources.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Strategies indicated to increase the percentage of vaccine adherence to prevent COVID-19 according to the intention to vaccinate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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