key: cord-0982533-f8sjo262 authors: Pickles, K.; Cvejic, E.; Nickel, B.; Copp, T.; Bonner, C.; Leask, J.; Ayre, J.; Batcup, C.; Cornell, S.; Dakin, T.; Dodd, R.; Isautier, J. M.; McCaffery, K. J. title: COVID-19: Beliefs in misinformation in the Australian community date: 2020-08-06 journal: nan DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 sha: 496eba81046e127582a998e5c18ddb1e7c47b73d doc_id: 982533 cord_uid: f8sjo262 Objectives: To investigate prevalence of beliefs in COVID-19 misinformation and examine whether demographic, psychosocial and cognitive factors are associated with these beliefs, and how they change over time. Study design: Prospective national longitudinal community online survey. Setting: Australian general public. Participants: Adults aged over 18 years (n=4362 baseline/Wave 1; n=1882 Wave 2; n=1369 Wave 3). Main outcome measure: COVID-19 misinformation beliefs. Results: Stronger agreement with misinformation beliefs was significantly associated with younger age, male gender, lower education, and primarily speaking a language other than English at home (all p<0.01). After controlling for these variables, misinformation beliefs were significantly associated (p<0.001) with lower digital health literacy, lower perceived threat of COVID-19, lower confidence in government, and lower trust in scientific institutions. The belief that the threat of COVID-19 is greatly exaggerated increased between Wave 1-2 (p=0.002), while belief that herd immunity benefits were being covered up decreased (p<0.001). Greatest support from a list of Australian Government identified myths was for those regarding hot temperatures killing the virus (22%) and Ibuprofen exacerbates COVID-19 (13%). Lower institutional trust and greater rejection of official government accounts were associated with greater support for COVID-19 myths after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Conclusion: These findings highlight important gaps in communication effectiveness. Stronger endorsement of misinformation was associated with male gender, younger age, lower education and language other than English spoken at home. Misinformation can undermine public health efforts. Public health authorities must urgently target groups identified in this study when countering misinformation and seek ways to enhance public trust of experts, governments, and institutions. . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 doi: medRxiv preprint F a l s e , m i s l e a d i n g o r i n a c c u r a t e h e a l t h i n f o r m a t i o n c a n p o s e a s e r i o u s r i s k t o p u b l i c h e a l t h a n d p u b l i c a c t i o n . M i s i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t C O V I D -1 9 i s c o m m o n a n d h a s s p r e a d r a p i d l y a c r o s s t h e g l o b e t h r o u g h s o c i a l m e d i a p l a t f o r m s a n d o t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n s y s t e m s . [ 1 -4 ] I n F e b r u a r y , t h e W o r l d H e a l t h O r g a n i s a t i o n ' s D i r e c t o r -G e n e r a l d e c l a r e d t h e g l o b a l ' o v e r -a b u n d a n c e ' o f C O V I D -1 9 i n f o r m a t i o n a n ' i n f o d e m i c ' . [ 5 ] T h e t e r m ' m i s i n f o d e m i c ' h a s s i n c e b e e n c o i n e d t V I D -1 9 b e l i e f s c i r c u l a t i n g i n m a i n s t r e a m m e d i a i n c l u d e f r a m i n g o f t h e p a n d e m i c a s a l e a k e d b i o w e a p o n , a c o n s e q u e n c e o f 5 G w i r e l e s s t e c h n o l o g y , a p o l i t i c a l h o a x , a n d t h a t t h e C O V I D -1 9 p a n d e m i c h a s b e e n m a d e u p b y g o v e r n m e n t s t o c o n t r o l p e o p l e . O t h e r s d e t a i l i n e f f e c t i v e m e a s u r e s t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s c a n t a k e t o p r e v e n t o r t r e a t t h e v i r u s , s u c h a s e x p o s i n g t h e m s e l v e s t o s u n l i g h t o r t a k i n g v i t a m i n C . [ 1 0 ] M i s i n f o r m a t i o n c a n u n d e r m i n e p u b l i c h e a l t h e f f o r t s t h r o u g h s h a p i n g b e l i e f s a n d a t t i t u d e s p a r t i c u l a r l y i f e n c o u n t e r e d w i t h i n a s o c i a l n e t w o r k -a n d b y r e i n f o r c i n g p r e -e x i s t i n g v a l u e s a n d p o s i t i o n s [ 1 1 ] . I m p o r t a n t l y , l o w e r p e r c e i v e d r i s k o r p e r c e i v e d e f f i c a c y o f p r e v e n t i o n b e h a v i o u r s a n d a l t e r e d p e r c e p t i o n o f s o c i a l n o r m s m i g h t i n f l u e n c e w i l l i n g n e s s t o f o l l o w r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s , s u c h a s v o l u n t a r y t e s t i n g , i s o l a t i o n a n d , p o t e n t i a l l y , v a c c i n a t i o n [ 1 2 ] . . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 doi: medRxiv preprint U n d e r s t a n d i n g w h a t t h e p u b l i c k n o w a b o u t C O V I D -1 9 a n d i d e n t i f y i n g b e l i e f s b a s e d o n m i s i n f o r m a t i o n c a n h e l p s h a p e e f f e c t i v e p u b l i c h e a l t h c o m m u n i c a t i o n s t o e n s u r e e f f o r t s t o r e d u c e v i r a l t r a n s m i s s i o n a r e n o t u n d e r m i n e d . T h i s p a p e r u s e s d a t a f r o m a l o n g i t u d i n a l c o h o r t s t u d y o f t h e A u s t r a l i a n p u b l i c T h e d a t a u s e d i n t h i s s t u d y a r e f r o m a p r o s p e c t i v e l o n g i t u d i n a l n a t i o n a l s u r v e y e x p l o r i n g v a r i a t i o n i n u n d e r s t a n d i n g , a t t i t u d e s , a n d u p t a k e o f C O V I D -1 9 h e a l t h a d v i c e d u r i n g t h e 2 0 2 0 p a n d e m i c l o c k d o w n [ 1 3 , 1 4 ] . A t o t a l o f 4 3 6 2 p a r t i c i p a n t s c o m p l e t e d t h e b a s e l i n e s u r v e y ( W a v e 1 ) , r e c r u i t e d i n A u s t r a l i a i n A p r i l 2 0 2 0 ( 1 7 -2 4 t h . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 doi: medRxiv preprint I n t e r n e t t o m a k e h e a l t h d e c i s i o n s P e r c e i v e d t h r e a t o f C O V I D -1 9 2 i t e m s , a d a p t e d f r o m [ 1 7 ] . P e r c e i v e d p u b l i c t h r e a t o f C O V I D -1 9 ( 1 = N o t h r e a t a t a l l t o 1 0 = A v e r y s e r i o u s p u b l i c h e a l t h t h r e a t ) a . P e r c e i v e d l i k e l i h o o d o f p e r s o n a l l y g e t t i n g s . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 doi: medRxiv preprint r e d u c e t h e n u m b e r o f o u t c o m e s f o r a n a l y s i s , m i s i n f o r m a t i o n b e l i e f s a t b a s e l i n e w e r e c o m b i n e d i n t o a s i n g l e m e a s u r e u s i n g p r i n c i p a l c o m p o n e n t a n a l y s i s ( P C A ) . . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 doi: medRxiv preprint w e r e s i g n i f i c a n t l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h y o u n g e r a g e , m a l e g e n d e r , l o w e r e d u c a t i o n , a n d p r i m a r i l y s p e a k i n g a l a n g u a g e o t h e r t h a n E n g l i s h a t h o m e ( a l l . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.04.20168583 doi: medRxiv preprint c o m p o n e n t s o l u t i o n w h i c h c u m u l a t i v e l y a c c o u n t e d f o r 5 1 . 1 5 % o f t h e v a r i a n c e ( s e e A p p e n d i x T a b l e 2 f o r c o m p o n e n t l o a d i n g a n d p r o p o r t i o n a g r e e i n g w i t h e a c h i t e m ) . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. . is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. D i s c u s s i o n O u r f i n d i n g s s h o w e d l o w e r i n s t i t u t i o n a l t r u s t , l o w e r d i g i t a l h e a l t h l i t e r a c y , a n d g r e a t e r r e j e c t i o n o f o f f i c i a l a c c o u n t s w e r e a s s . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. T h e p o l l f o u n d s i m i l a r d e m o g r a p h i c p a t t e r n s t o o u r f i n d i n g s , w h e r e m e n a n d y o u n g e r p e o p l e a g r e e d w i t h a r a n g e o f C O V I D -1 9 m y t h s m o r e t h a n o t h e r g r o u p s . I n t h e U S a n d U K , y o u n g e r p e o p l e a r e m o r e l i k e l y t o h o l d c o n s p i r a c y b e l i e f s a b o u t C O V I D -1 . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. i m p o r t a n t t o i n v e s t i n p r o g r a m s t e a c h i n g d i g i t a l h e a l t h l i t e r a c y a n d h e a l t h y s c e p t i c i s m o f h e a l t h n e w s . F i n a l l y , p a r t n e r s h i p s b e t w e e n p u b l i c h e a l t h a u t h o r i t i e s a n d t r u s t e d o r g a n i s a t i o n s t o d e l i v e r i n f o r m a t i o n a n d c o r r e c t m i s i n f o r m a t i o n s h o u l d b e u t i l i s e d w h e r is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 6, 2020. h a r m , s u c h a s t h e I r a n i a n m e t h a n o l p o i s o n i n g e x p e r i e n c e [ 3 9 ] . 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