Online Media Use and COVID-19 Vaccination in Real-World Personal Networks : Quantitative Study
Oana, Iulian (University of Bucharest. Center for Innovation in Medicine)
Hâncean, Marian-Gabriel (University of Bucharest. Center for Innovation in Medicine)
Perc, Matjaž (University of Maribor (Maribor, Eslovènia))
Lerner, Jürgen (Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Department of Computer and Information Science. University of Konstanz)
Mihaila, Bianca Elena (University of Bucharest. Center for Innovation in Medicine)
Geanta, Marius (Center for Innovation in Medicine)
Molina, José Luis (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Antropologia Social i Cultural)
Tinca, Isabela (University of Bucharest. Center for Innovation in Medicine)
Espina, Carolina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Data:	2024
Descripció:	18 pàg.
Resum:	Background: Most studies assessing the impact of online media and social media use on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy predominantly rely on survey data, which often fail to capture the clustering of health opinions and behaviors within real-world networks. In contrast, research using social network analysis aims to uncover the diverse communities and discourse themes related to vaccine support and hesitancy within social media platforms. Despite these advancements, there is a gap in the literature on how a person's social circle affects vaccine acceptance, wherein an important part of social influence stems from offline interactions. Objective: We aimed to examine how online media consumption influences vaccination decisions within real-world social networks by analyzing unique quantitative network data collected from Romania, an Eastern European state and member of the European Union. Methods: We conducted 83 face-to-face interviews with participants from a living lab in Lere ti, a small rural community in Romania, using a personal network analysis framework. This approach involved gathering data on both the respondents and individuals within their social circles (referred to as alters). After excluding cases with missing data, our analysis proceeded with 73% (61/83) of the complete personal networks. To examine the hierarchical structure of alters nested within ego networks, we used a mixed multilevel logistic regression model with random intercepts. The model aimed to predict vaccination status among alters, with the focal independent variable being the respondents' preferred source of health and prevention information. This variable was categorized into 3 types: traditional media, online media (including social media), and a combination of both, with traditional media as the reference category. Results: In this study, we analyzed 61 personal networks, encompassing between 15 and 25 alters each, totaling 1280 alters with valid data across all variables of interest. Our primary findings indicate that alters within personal networks, whose respondents rely solely on online media for health information, exhibit lower vaccination rates (odds ratio [OR] 0. 37, 95% CI 0. 15-0. 92; P=. 03). Conversely, the transition from exclusive traditional media use to a combination of both traditional and online media does not significantly impact vaccination rate odds (OR 0. 75, 95% CI 0. 32-1. 78; P=. 52). In addition, our analysis revealed that alters in personal networks of respondents who received the vaccine are more likely to have received the vaccine themselves (OR 3. 75, 95% CI 1. 79-7. 85; P<. 001). Conclusions: Real-world networks combine diverse human interactions and attributes along with consequences on health opinions and behaviors. As individuals'vaccination status is influenced by how their social alters use online media and vaccination behavior, further insights are needed to create tailored communication campaigns and interventions regarding vaccination in areas with low levels of digital health literacy and vaccination rates, as Romania exposes.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Assortative mixing ; COVID-19 ; Health information ; Online media ; Personal network analysis ; Romania ; Social media ; Social network analysis ; Vaccination ; Vaccine hesitancy
Publicat a:	Journal of medical Internet research, Vol. 26 (2024) , p. e58257, ISSN 1438-8871

DOI: 10.2196/58257
PMID: 39454189

18 p, 458.6 KB

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