Browsing by Author "Markovic, Gordana (36939446400)"

Problem considered: People who accept vaccination can still hold false beliefs about vaccines and COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to identify behaviors, misbeliefs, sources of information and trust in institutions associated with vaccine-related worry. Methods: Adults who received the third dose of COVID-19 vaccines at a major national referral center in September and October 2021 were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants filled in a self-reported questionnaire which included statements about uncertainties regarding vaccination and fake news identified in a previous qualitative research. Results: The study included 366 participants (average age 41.6 ± 15.5 years). A total of 35.2% of participants believed in at least one piece of fake news. Of those who did believe in fake news, most (25%) believed that the SARS-CoV-2 was made in a lab. Holding beliefs that COVID-19 vaccines were not investigated enough and that vaccines allow for the injection of nano-technological devices, receiving information about COVID-19 from the Internet and having less trust in health care workers were associated with a higher degree of worry about COVID-19 vaccination. Receiving information from medical journals made people less prone to worry about COVID-19 vaccination. Conclusion: To prevent the spread of false information, it is of paramount importance to have a coordinated system of people and institutions to deliver accurate, clear and compelling information about health-related issues to address false narratives and enhance public trust in health care workers, medicine and science. © 2024 The Author(s)

Background and Objectives: Elderly people may have difficulties understanding the quality and quantity of information about the COVID-19 epidemic, which can put an additional mental strain on their health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the processing of COVID-19 information among older people. Materials and Methods: A qualitative study was carried out in summer 2021. The sampling was based on the snowball method. This approach allowed us to communicate with the next potential participants relatively freely and without reservations. Two female researchers (both MD, PhD) conducted the interviews. All interviews were held in Serbian. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The interviews were conducted with 13 participants (average age 71 years). The analysis of qualitative content suggested that four topics could be identified: (1) sources of information, (2) information interest and need, (3) reporting of information and (4) suggestions for better reporting. The participants were troubled by the excess of information, repetitive information about death tolls, unqualified people in media discussing the pandemic and inconsistent reporting. These features caused the participants to feel the psychological burden in processing all the pieces of information. Conclusions: The elderly people in Serbia followed mainstream media to get information about COVID-19; however, they perceived a variety of problems with reporting, which made the understanding of the information difficult and psychologically burdensome. These findings should be taken into consideration when delivering health-related information to elderly people. © 2023 by the authors.