The positive impact of social media on health behavior towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional study.

Sharif, Nadim; Opu, Rubayet Rayhan; Alzahrani, Khalid J; Ahmed, Shamsun Nahar; Islam, Suchana; Mim, Shika Sohoda; Khan, Fariha Bushra; Zaman, Fariha; Dey, Shuvra Kanti

BACKGROUND Health information has a profound impact on developing awareness and ultimately preventing the burden of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but study in Bangladesh is lacking. AIMS Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of information from social media and television in developing health awareness among people amid the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Data was collected during December 10, 2020 to February 10, 2021 from 1808 people. Data was collected by using questionnaire about information source and their impact on COVID-19 related health measures. Pearson's correlation analyses was conducted. RESULTS Female (52%, 937 of 1808) was the most prevalent sex and the mean age was 24 ± 3.9 years. Most of the social media users were students (63%, 1131 of 1808). Social media (53%, 959 of 1808) and television (44%, 800 of 1808) were the most popular sources and Facebook (66.5%, 1203 of 1808) was the most common source of getting health information. About 87% people received health information on social media and television. Users of social media had about 3 times more likelihood to follow the health rules. About 80% participants who used social media followed the health measures after 0-28 days of getting the information. The strongest correlation was found between social distancing and the information on television (r = 0.943). CONCLUSION Strong correlation of health information was present among the participants in building awareness about taking preventive measures. This is the first study to describe the positive influence of information amid COVID-19 in Bangladesh.