Impact of the COVID 19 Infodemic on Knowledge, Attitude and Social Behavior in India: A Mixed Method Survey

Figures & data

Figure 1. Demographic Characteristics.

Figure 2. Content Analysis.

Table

Variables	Frequency	Percent (%)
Age (years)
Gender
Male	287	55.3
Female	233	44.7
Location
North	156	30.1
South	140	27.0
West	148	28.5
East	76	14.5
Level of Education
School	94	17.9
Graduate	249	48.0
Postgraduate	177	34.1
Work setting
Indoor	322	62.0
Outdoor	198	38.0
N = 520

Table 2. Predictors of Knowledge outcome

Variables	Odds Ratio	95% Confidence Interval		p-value
		Lower Limit	Upper Limit
Location
North	Ref^+
South	2.092	0.92	4.70	0.074
East	2.411	1.07	5.41	0.033a
West	1.131	0.41	3.10	0.811
Education Level
School	Ref^+
Graduate	1.327	0.52	3.36	0.551
Post Graduate	1.063	0.50	2.21	0.870
Source of Information
Community workers	Ref^+
Mass and social media	0.97	0.59	1.61	0.930
Family & Friends	1.41	0.86	0.23	0.171
Comprehensibility of COVID-19 information
Difficult to understand	Ref^+
Easy to understand	0.56	0.16	1.93	0.364
Little difficult to understand	1.04	0.30	0.65	0.943
Misconceptions regarding COVID-19 transmission and prevention
COVID-19 is an airborne disease Ref^+
Frequent washing clothes can reduce spreading of COVID-19	0.084	0.04	0.16	0.000a*
Consuming Herbal products, homecures (turmeric,garlic, Ashwagandha, Giloy, kaadha) and vitamin supplements (Vit C, D, Zn) can prevent COVID-19	12.009	5.95	24.2	0.000**
Gargling with salt water or vinegar can prevent COVID-19	0.029	0.01	0.06	0.000**

a- indicate significant at 5% level of confidence, **-indicates significant at 1%level of confidence

+- reference to odds ratio calculated

Table 3. Predictors of Attitude toward COVID-19 and its prevention

Attitude	Odds ratio	95% C.I. for EXP(B)
		Lower	Upper	p Value
LOCATION
North	Ref^+
South	2.000	0.988	4.047	0.054*
East	2.640	1.287	5.414	0.008**
West	1.734	0.735	4.094	0.209
EDUCATION LEVEL
School	Ref^+
Graduate	1.390	0.642	3.012	0.404
Post graduate	1.481	0.789	2.779	0.221
TRUSTED SOURCES
Community workers	Ref^+
Mass and Social media	1.209	0.644	2.267	0.555
Family and friends	1.584	0.858	2.925	0.142
Misconceptions regarding prevention and transmission of COVID-19
Relying on herbals products (turmeric,garlic,Ashwagandha, Giloy, kaadha) or vitamins (Vit C, D) for protection against COVID-19
Disagree	Ref^+
Neutral	9.781	1.744	54.861	0.010*
Agree	5.846	1.066	32.066	0.042*
Gargling with vinegar/salt water for prevention of Covid19
Disagree	Ref^+
Neutral	7.716	2.182	27.287	0.002**
Agree	3.481	1.030	11.770	0.045*
Strongly agree	1.263	0.343	4.649	0.725
COVID-19 is an airborne disease
Disagree	Ref^+
Neutral	3.904	0.436	34.963	0.223
Agree	6.384	2.795	14.578	0.000**
Strongly agree	4.904	2.728	8.815	0.000**
Comprehensibility of COVID-19 information
Easy to understand Ref^+				0.26
Little Difficult	0.710	0.160	3.000	0.640
Very Difficult	1.080	0.250	4.680	0.910

Table 4. Predictors of Preventive practices toward COVID-19

	Odds Ratio	95% C.I.for EXP(B)
		Lower	Upper	p- value
LOCATION
North	Ref^+
South	2.507	1.422	4.419	0.001**
East	2.483	1.393	4.426	0.002**
West	2.268	1.149	4.476	0.018*
EDUCATION LEVEL
School Ref^+
Graduate	2.702	1.432	5.098	0.002**
Post graduate	1.694	1.044	2.750	0.033*
Work setting	0.951	0.603	1.501	0.830
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Mass and social media	Ref^+
Family and friends	1.264	0.762	2.097	0.363
Community workers	1.799	1.095	2.957	0.020*
Misconceptions regarding prevention and transmission of COVID-19
Consuming herbal cures/ herbal products (Garlic, Turmeric, Ashwagandha, Kadha, Ghiloy, /vitamins (Vit C or Vit D) to boost immunity against COVID-19
Never	Ref^+
Sometimes	3.686	1.483	9.162	0.005**
Most of the times	4.594	2.234	9.445	0.000**
Always	2.668	1.395	5.101	0.003**
Gargling with vinegar or salt for prevention of COVID-19
Never	Ref^+
Sometimes	4.594	0.000		0.999
Most of the times	7.789	2.053	29.554	0.003**
Always	1.502	0.932	2.419	0.095
Alcohol consumption to boost your immunity or cure COVID-19
Never	Ref^+
Sometimes	2.114	0.321	13.908	0.436
Most of the times	3.409	1.272	9.140	0.015*
Always	1.914	1.242	2.949	0.003**

Table 5. Count of preferred sources of information in various locations and age groups

Sources of Information	Location (%)				Age groups (%)
	East	North	South	West	15-25 yrs	26-36 yrs	37-47 yrs	48-59 yrs	> 60 yrs
Social media	18	17	16	17	18	19	14	10	20
Community workers	20	21	20	21	21	20	17	23	22
Family and friends	22	14	17	12	16	14	17	18	13
Mass Media	40	47	47	49	45	47	53	48	45