The Impact of the COVID-19 “Infodemic” on Well-Being: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics and Comparison with Well-Being Scores

Variable	All	Well-Being Score	P-value*	Good Well-Being (≥12.5)	Poor Well-Being (<12.5)	P-value*
Overall	993	12.6 ±5.6	–	511 (51.5)	481 (48.5)	–
Age, Mean ±SD	34.2 ±12.2	−0.02^!	0.581	34.1 ±12.1	34.3 ±12.4	0.813
Age groups, n (%)
<20 years	88 (8.9)	12.8 ±4.8	0.344	42 (47.7)	46 (52.3)	0.602
20–29 years	320 (32.3)	12.6 ±5.3		160 (50.0)	160 (50.0)
30–39 years	252 (25.5)	13.2 ±5.9		111 (44.1)	141 (55.9)
40–49 years	194 (19.6)	12.1 ±5.6		98 (50.5)	96 (49.5)
50+ years	136 (13.7)	12.5 ±6.1		68 (50.0)	68 (50.0)
Sex, n (%)
Female	726 (73.2)	12.5 ±5.5	0.119	361 (49.7)	365 (50.3)	0.063
Male	266 (26.8)	13.1 ±5.7		150 (56.4)	116 (43.6)
Education, n (%)
Primary	7 (0.7)	13.1 ±9.2	0.060	4 (57.1)	3 (42.9)	0.074
Secondary	80 (8.1)	12.3 ±5.7		41 (51.3)	39 (48.7)
Undergraduate	469 (47.3)	12.2 ±5.4		222 (47.3)	247 (52.7)
Postgraduate	436 (43.9)	13.2 ±5.7		244 (56.0)	192 (44.0)
Marital status, n (%)
Single	448 (45.2)	12.5 ±5.2	0.429	226 (50.5)	222 (49.5)	0.636
Married	495 (49.9)	12.8 ±5.8		263 (53.1)	232 (46.9)
Divorced	39 (3.9)	11.9 ±6.3		17 (43.6)	22 (56.4)
Widow(er)	10 (1.0)	10.5 ±7.0		5 (50.0)	5 (50.0)
Nationality, n (%)
Emirati	180 (23.1)	14.1 ±5.2	<0.001	295 (49.3)	304 (50.7)	<0.001
Non-Emirati	599 (76.9)	12.4 ±5.6		115 (63.9)	65 (36.1)
Country of Residence, n (%)
UAE	644 (64.9)	12.6 ±5.6	0.519	337 (52.3)	307 (47.7)	0.189
Saudi Arabia	112 (11.3)	13.4 ±5.4		64 (57.1)	48 (42.9)
Lebanon	88 (8.9)	11.6 ±6.2		33 (37.5)	55 (62.5)
Egypt	27 (2.7)	12.2 ±5.9		14 (51.9)	13 (48.1)
Other Arab countries	43 (4.3)	13.0 ±5.1		22 (51.2)	21 (48.8)
Australia	33 (3.3)	12.0 ±4.5		15 (45.5)	18 (54.5)
Canada/USA	16 (1.6)	14.7 ±4.6		10 (62.5)	6 (37.5)
Europe	18 (1.8)	12.8 ±5.9		8 (44.4)	10 (55.6)
Other	11 (1.1)	13.5 ±6.5		8 (72.7)	3 (27.3)
Job, n (%)
Employed for wages	451 (45.5)	13.1 ±5.6	0.122	241 (53.4)	210 (46.6)	0.718
Self-employed	45 (4.5)	12.9 ±6.3		25 (55.6)	20 (44.4)
Unemployed	119 (12.0)	11.9 ±5.8		56 (47.1)	63 (52.9)
Retired/Cannot work	19 (1.92)	10.4 ±6.8		9 (47.4)	10 (52.6)
Home-maker	92 (9.3)	11.8 ±5.6		43 (46.7)	49 (53.3)
Student	266 (26.8)	12.6 ±5.2		137 (51.5)	129 (48.5)
Field of work, n (%)
Medical/Healthcare	203 (20.5)	12.9 ±5.5	0.030	111 (54.7)	92 (45.3)	0.065
Education sector	150 (15.1)	12.2 ±5.7		68 (45.3)	82 (54.7)
Academic/Research	142 (14.3)	13.7 ±6.0		86 (60.6)	56 (39.4)
White-collar	57 (5.7)	11.5 ±5.5		26 (45.6)	31 (54.4)
Police/Military	21 (2.1)	14.4 ±6.8		14 (66.7)	7 (33.3)
Blue-collar	8 (0.8)	10.0 ±6.4		3 (37.5)	5 (62.5)

Notes: *Unpaired t-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied to compare the mean well-being score with qualitative variables as appropriate. Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were applied to compare binary variable of well-being with qualitative variables as appropriate. ^!Pearson correlation coefficient. The bold value represents the number of participants.

Table 2 General Media Sources Use and Well-Being Score by Media Use

Variable	All	Well-Being Score	P-value*	Good Well-Being (≥12.5)	Poor Well-Being (<12.5)	P-value*
Medium of information on COVID-19
Social media
No	275 (27.7)	13.1 ±5.5	0.134	157 (57.1)	118 (42.9)	0.029
Yes	717 (72.3)	12.5 ±5.6		354 (49.4)	363 (50.6)
Internet
No	488 (49.2)	12.6 ±5.6	0.909	253 (51.8)	235 (48.2)	0.837
Yes	504 (50.8)	12.7 ±5.6		258 (51.2)	246 (48.8)
TV
No	570 (57.5)	12.5 ±5.6	0.593	298 (52.3)	272 (47.7)	0.573
Yes	422 (42.54)	12.7 ±5.5		213 (50.5)	209 (49.5)
Newspaper
No	861 (86.8)	12.7 ±5.6	0.553	448 (52.0)	413 (48.0)	0.400
Yes	131 (13.2)	12.3 ±5.7		63 (48.1)	68 (51.9)
Radio
No	940 (94.8)	12.7 ±5.6	0.419	485 (51.6)	455 (48.4)	0.823
Yes	52 (5.2)	12.0 ±5.1		26 (50.0)	26 (50.0)
Health agencies
No	958 (96.6)	12.6 ±5.6	0.280	492 (51.4)	466 (48.6)	0.604
Yes	34 (3.4)	13.6 ±5.5		19 (55.9)	15 (44.1)
Scientific literature
No	975 (98.3)	12.6 ±5.6	0.413	504 (51.7)	471 (48.3)	0.467
Yes	17 (1.7)	11.5 ±6.8		7 (41.2)	10 (58.8)
Word of mouth
No	979 (98.7)	12.6 ±5.6	0.373	503 (51.4)	476 (48.6)	0.581
Yes	13 (1.3)	14.0 ±5.0		8 (61.5)	5 (38.5)
Hospital/healthcare professional
No	984 (99.2)	12.6 ±5.6	0.851	507 (51.5)	477 (48.5)	1.000
Yes	8 (0.8)	13.0 ±6.7		4 (50.0)	4 (50.0)

Notes: *Unpaired tests were applied to compare well-being scores with social media. Chi-square or Fisher Exact tests were applied to compare binary variable of well-being with social media.

Figure 1 Medium of information of COVID-19 (N:993).

Figure 2 Use of social media (hours per day) (N: 993).

Table 3 Frequency of Social Media Use and Comparison with a Well-Being Score

Variable	All	Well-Being Score	P-value*	Good Well-Being (≥12.5)	Poor Well-Being (<12.5)	P-value*
Social media
No	275 (27.7)	13.1 ±5.5	0.134	157 (57.1)	118 (42.9)	0.029
Yes	717 (72.3)	12.5 ±5.6		354 (49.4)	363 (50.6)
Facebook
Do not use	406 (43.7)	13.4 ±5.4	<0.001	243 (59.9)	163 (40.1)	<0.001
<1 hour	251 (27.0)	12.6 ±5.7		127 (50.6)	124 (49.4)
1–3 hours	188 (20.2)	11.3 ±5.5		71 (37.8)	117 (62.2)
3–5 hours	59 (6.3)	12.5 ±5.5		27 (45.8)	32 (54.2)
>5 hours	26 (2.8)	9.5 ±6.3		9 (34.6)	17 (65.4)
Twitter
Do not use	498 (55.3)	12.4 ±5.7	0.224	246 (49.4)	252 (50.6)	0.193
<1 hour	223 (24.8)	13.3 ±5.2		130 (58.3)	93 (41.7)
1–3 hours	104 (11.6)	12.4 ±5.8		49 (47.1)	55 (52.9)
3–5 hours	40 (4.4)	13.7 ±5.1		22 (55.0)	18 (45.0)
>5 hours	35 (3.9)	12.6 ±5.7		19 (54.3)	16 (45.7)
Instagram
Do not use	211 (22.6)	12.4 ±5.9	0.130	104 (49.3)	107 (50.7)	0.352
<1 hour	242 (25.9)	12.9 ±5.7		129 (53.3)	113 (46.7)
1–3 hours	281 (30.1)	12.9 ±5.6		147 (52.3)	134 (47.7)
3–5 hours	136 (14.5)	13.0 ±4.9		76 (55.9)	60 (44.1)
>5 hours	65 (6.9)	11.1 ±5.4		27 (41.5)	38 (58.5)
YouTube
Do not use	140 (14.9)	12.3 ±5.7	0.221	72 (51.4)	68 (48.6)	0.716
<1 hour	316 (33.6)	13.1 ±5.7		168 (53.2)	148 (46.8)
1–3 hours	288 (30.6)	12.8 ±5.3		149 (51.7)	139 (48.3)
3–5 hours	115 (12.2)	12.9 ±5.3		63 (54.8)	52 (45.2)
>5 hours	82 (8.7)	11.6 ±5.7		37 (45.1)	45 (54.9)
LinkedIn
Do not use	638 (71.2)	12.6 ±5.5	0.345	320 (50.2)	318 (49.8)	0.472
<1 hour	201 (22.4)	13.0 ±5.5		111 (55.2)	90 (44.8)
1–3 hours	42 (4.7)	12.4 ±5.9		24 (57.1)	18 (42.9)
>3 hours	15 (1.7)	14.7 ±5.5		9 (60.0)	6 (40.0)
Reddit
Do not use	798 (91.2)	12.8 ±5.6	0.102	419 (52.5)	379 (47.5)	0.287
<1 hour	51 (5.8)	11.1 ±5.1		21 (41.2)	30 (58.8)
≥1 hours	26 (3.0)	13.0 ±4.7		13 (50.0)	13 (50.0)

Notes: *One-way ANOVA tests were applied to compare well-being scores with the frequency of social media use. Chi-square or Fisher Exact tests were applied to compare binary variable of well-being with the frequency of social media use.

Table 4 Social Media Practices and Comparison with a Well-Being Score

Variable	All	Well-Being Score	P-value*	Good Well-Being (≥12.5)	Poor Well-Being (<12.5)	P-value*
How often do you look up information and updates about COVID-19?
Not at all	39 (3.9)	13.1 ±6.0	0.146	22 (56.4)	17 (43.6)	0.342
Rarely	113 (11.4)	12.1 ±5.4		60 (53.1)	53 (46.9)
Occasionally	268 (27.0)	12.9 ±5.4		141 (52.6)	127 (47.4)
Often	371 (37.4)	12.6 ±5.9		176 (47.4)	195 (52.6)
Very often	201 (20.3)	13.8 ±5.2		112 (55.7)	89 (44.3)
Do you follow influencers on social media for COVID-19 information and updates?
Yes	208 (21.0)	12.9 ±5.9	0.354	110 (52.9)	98 (47.1)	0.622
No	654 (65.9)	12.4 ±5.4		330 (50.5)	324 (49.5)
I do not know any influencer	130 (13.1)	13.1 ±5.8		71 (54.6)	59 (45.4)
I only share COVID-19 related information from official sources or after validating from the official sources?
Strongly Disagree/ Disagree	39 (3.9)	13.6 ±7.3	0.021	24 (61.5)	15 (38.5)	0.069
Neither disagree nor agree	100 (10.1)	11.2 ±5.6		42 (42.0)	58 (58.0)
Strongly Agree/ Agree	853 (86.0)	12.8 ±5.5		445 (52.2)	408 (47.8)
I share COVID-19 related information because: via social media
It gives me some sense of satisfaction
No	819 (82.6)	12.5 ±5.5	0.093	410 (50.1)	409 (49.9)	0.047
Yes	173 (17.5)	13.3 ±5.9		101 (58.4)	72 (41.6)
I want to stay socially interactive
No	863 (87.0)	12.6 ±5.6	0.579	444 (51.5)	419 (48.5)	0.917
Yes	129 (13.0)	12.9 ±5.3		67 (51.9)	62 (48.1)
I have no specific reason
No	859 (86.6)	12.8 ±5.5	0.018	454 (52.9)	405 (47.1)	0.032
Yes	133 (13.4)	11.6 ±6.0		57 (42.9)	76 (57.1)
I was asked to forward it
No	956 (69.4)	12.7 ±5.6	0.436	495 (51.8)	461 (48.2)	0.387
Yes	36 (3.6)	11.9 ±4.9		16 (44.4)	20 (55.6)
I feel responsible to share knowledge
No	377 (38.0)	12.3 ±6.1	0.201	192 (50.9)	185 (49.1)	0.773
Yes	615 (62.0)	12.8 ±5.3		319 (51.9)	296 (48.1)
I wish to stay informed
No	948 (95.6)	12.6 ±5.6	0.607	491 (51.8)	457 (48.2)	0.411
Yes	44 (4.4)	12.2 ±5.6		20 (45.5)	24 (54.5)
I am confident in my ability to differentiate between true and false information related to COVID-19?
Strongly disagree/Disagree	38 (3.8)	14.1 ±5.5	≤0.001	24 (63.2)	14 (36.8)	≤0.001
Neither disagree nor agree	180 (18.1)	11.1 ±5.3		64 (35.6)	116 (64.4)
Strongly agree/ Agree	774 (78.0)	13.0 ±5.6		423 (54.7)	351 (45.3)
When I receive dubious or false COVID-19 related information, I inform the sender or try to correct them
Strongly disagree/ Disagree	23 (2.3)	9.7 ±4.8	0.011	7 (30.4)	16 (69.6)	0.027
	73 (7.4)	12.4 ±5.6		32 (43.8)	41 (56.2)
Neither disagree nor agree	251 (25.3)	12.1 ±5.5		120 (47.8)	131 (52.2)
Strongly agree /Agree	349 (35.2)	12.7 ±5.3		183 (52.4)	166 (47.6)
	296 (29.8)	13.3 ±5.9		169 (57.1)	127 (42.9)
My knowledge and awareness of health-related issues has increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
Strongly disagree/Disagree	41 (4.1)	13.0 ±5.9	0.046	23 (56.1)	18 (43.9)	0.003
Neither disagree nor agree	169 (17.0)	11.7 ±5.7		67 (39.6)	102 (60.4)
Strongly agree/ agree	782 (78.8.)	12.8 ±5.5		421 (53.8)	361 (46.2)

Notes: *Unpaired t-tests or one-way ANOVA tests were applied to compare well-being score with the frequency of social media use. Chi-square or Fisher Exact tests were applied to compare binary variable of well-being with the frequency of social media use.

Table 5 Crude and Adjusted Linear Regression Analysis of Well-Being Score with Social Media Use and Practices

Variable	Unadjusted Estimate (95% CI)	P-value*	Adjusted Estimate (95% CI)	P-value*
Facebook
<1 hour/	−0.78 (−1.65–0.09)	0.078	−0.19 (−1.30–0.92)	0.734
1–3 hours/	−2.09 (−3.04 – −1.13)	<0.001	−1.53 (−2.79 – −0.27)	0.017
3–5 hours/ Do not use	−0.95 (−2.45–0.56)	0.216	−0.04 (−2.00–1.91)	0.965
>5 hours/ Do not use	−3.87 (−6.05 – −1.68)	0.001	−0.317 (−5.78 – −0.55)	0.018
R^2	0.028		0.054
Twitter
<1 hour/ Do not use	0.92 (0.05–1.80)	0.039	0.85 (−0.17–1.87)	0.101
1–3 hours/ Do not use	0.01 (−1.17–1.18)	0.998	−0.38 (−1.67–0.92)	0.569
3–5 hours/ Do not use	1.23 (−0.56–3.02)	0.179	0.74 (−1.23–2.71)	0.461
>5 hours/ Do not use	2.07 (−1.70–2.11)	0.831	−0.52 (−2.67–1.63)	0.633
R^2	0.006		0.046
Instagram
<1 hour/ Do not use	0.46 (−0.57–1.49)	0.381	1.08 (−0.10–2.26)	0.072
1–3 hours/ Do not use	0.48 (−0.51–1.49)	0.339	0.54 (−0.67–1.76)	0.379
3–5 hours/ Do not use	0.62 (−0.58–1.82)	0.313	0.13 (−1.37–1.64)	0.860
>5 hours/ Do not use	−1.33 (−2.88–0.21)	0.091	−1.09 (−2.92–0.73)	0.241
R^2	0.008		0.048
You \Tube
<1 hour/ Do not use	0.76 (−0.35–1.87)	0.178	0.27 (−1.03–1.58)	0.683
1–3 hours/ Do not use	0.45 (−0.67–1.57)	0.433	−0.22 (−1.57–1.13)	0.748
3–5 hours/ Do not use	0.58 (−0.80–1.95)	0.411	−0.27 (−1.89–1.34)	0.738
>5 hours/ Do not use	−0.75 (−2.27–0.76)	0.329	−0.98 (−2.78–0.82)	0.285
R^2	0.006		0.040
LinkedIn
<1 hour/ Do not use	0.48 (−0.40–1.36)	0.285	0.99 (−0.11–2.09)	0.078
1–3 hours/ Do not use	−0.18 (−1.91–1.55)	0.838	0.55 (−1.58–2.69)	0.610
>3 hours/ Do not use	2.17 (−0.67–5.01)	0.133	2.40 (−1.08–5.88)	0.177
R^2	0.004		0.047
Reddit
<1 hour/ Do not use	−1.70 (−3.26 – −0.13)	0.034	−2.24 (−3.98 – −0.51)	0.011
≥1 hours/ Do not use	0.19 (−1.98–2.35)	0.865	1.42 (−1.50–4.34)	0.341
R^2	0.005		0.050
How often do you look up information and updates about COVID-19?
Rarely/ Not at all	−1.29 (−3.22–0.74)	0.214	−2.13 (−4.36–1.00)	0.060
Occasionally/ Not at all	−0.98 (−2.85–0.90)	0.307	−2.08 (4.16 – −0.01)	0.050
Often/ Not at all	−1.74 (−3.58–0.11)	0.065	−2.99 (−5.03 – −0.95)	0.004
Very often/ Not at all	−0.78 (−2.69–1.14)	0.427	−1.91 (−4.04–0.23)	0.080
R^2	0.007		0.055
Do you follow influencers on social media for COVID-19 information and updates?
Yes/ No	0.47 (−0.40–1.34)	0.291	0.21 (−0.77 – −1.19)	0.680
I do not know any influencer/ No	0.63 (−0.42–1.68)	0.241	0.20 (−1.01–1.40)	0.749
R^2	0.002		0.041
I only share COVID-19 related information from official sources or after validating from the official sources?
Disagree/ Neither disagree nor agree	2.24 (−0.29–4.77)	0.083	1.34 (−1.54–4.22)	0.362
Strongly disagree/ Neither disagree nor agree	2.51 (−0.43–5.45)	0.094	3.78 (0.36–7.20)	0.030
Agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	0.99 (−0.31–2.30)	0.137	0.67 (−0.85–2.19)	0.389
Strongly agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	1.70 (0.52–2.88)	0.005	1.11 (−0.29–2.50)	0.121
R^2	0.011		0.048
I share COVID-19 related information because:
It gives me some sense of satisfaction (Yes/No)	0.79 (−0.13–1.70)	0.093	0.83 (−0.20–1.85)	0.115
R^2	0.003		0.044
I want to stay socially interactive (Yes/No)	0.29 (−0.74–1.33)	0.579	−0.21 (−1.38–0.96)	0.720
R^2	0.001		0.041
I have no specific reason (Yes/No)	−1.23 (−2.24 – −0.21)	0.018	−0.89 (−2.05–0.27)	0.131
R^2	0.006		0.044
I was asked to forward it (Yes/No)	−0.74 (−2.60–1.12)	0.436	−2.05 (−4.19–0.09)	0.060
R^2	0.001		0.045
I feel responsible to share knowledge (Yes/No)	0.47 (−0.25–1.18)	0.202	0.19 (−0.62–1.01)	0.646
R^2	0.002		0.041
I wish to stay informed (Yes/No)	−0.44 (−2.13–1.25)	0.606	−0.82 (−2.58–0.95)	0.364
R^2	0.001		0.042
I am confident in my ability to differentiate between true and false information related to COVID-19?
Disagree or Strongly disagree/ Neither disagree nor agree	3.02 (1.08–4.96)	<0.001	2.81 (0.49–5.13)	0.018
Agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	1.52 (0.56–2.48)	0.002	1.61 (0.52–2.70)	0.004
Strongly agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	2.31 (1.30–3.31)	0.002	1.70 (0.56–2.83)	0.003
R^2	0.023		0.056
When I receive dubious or false COVID-19 related information, I inform the sender or try to correct them
Disagree/ Neither disagree nor agree	0.32 (−1.13–1.77)	0.662	−0.92 (−2.55–0.71)	0.267
Strongly disagree/ Neither disagree nor agree	−2.43 (−4.81 – −0.06)	0.045	−2.50 (−5.13–0.13)	0.063
Agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	0.63 (0.27–1.53)	0.172	0.35 (−0.69–1.38)	0.509
Strongly agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	1.18 (0.25–2.12)	0.013	0.57 (−0.51–1.64)	0.301
R^2	0.013		0.051
My knowledge and awareness of health-related issues has increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
Disagree or Strongly disagree/ Neither disagree nor agree	1.33 (−0.57–3.23)	0.170	0.98 (−1.29–3.25)	0.396
Agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	0.91 (−0.07–1.90)	0.068	0.49 (−0.61–1.60)	0.380
Strongly agree/ Neither disagree nor agree	1.50 (0.45–2.53)	0.005	0.69 (−0.47–1.86)	0.244
R^2	0.008		0.043

Note: The multiple linear regression model was adjusted for age, sex, education, marital status, nationality, and job.