The Coronavirus Health Crisis, Social Media, and Online Health Information Seeking Behaviour of Older Adults in Nigeria

Year 2022, Issue: 41, 23 - 37, 31.12.2022

Silas Udenze , Bibian Ugoala

https://doi.org/10.17829/turcom.1049246

Abstract

Older adults or the elderly are part of the group of peeople that make up a majority of the health burdens
in society, and the outbreak of coronavirus or COVID – 19 has further placed them in a risky position
due to their age. Going by the latter statement, the research examines the impact of social media on this
population’s online health information-seeking behaviour in the face of the global coronavirus health crisis
in Nigeria. The study employed Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) technique for ascertaining the sample size for a
given population, and arrived at a sample of 384 quantitatively surveyed through a questionnaire. The study
concluded that social media positively impacted the health behaviour of the research population, and the
information sought on social media is reliable, and it also influenced their behaviour positively. However,
the authors warn that online health information seekers, especially older adults, should always exercise
caution as not all information obtained on social media on various health issues, including the coronavirus,
is accurate. Besides, consumers of online health information should be thorough and active users of social
media; they should use their human senses to discern between false and true health information. Further,
they should also verify such information with health professionals if the need arises. Given the limitations
enumerated in this study, the authors suggest that further studies are essential to validate the results of this
research.

Keywords

Social Media, Elderly, health, information seeking behaviour, health crisis, COVID-19

Koronavirüs Sağlık Krizi, Sosyal Medya ve Nijerya’daki Yaşlı Yetişkinlerin Çevrimiçi Sağlık Bilgisi Arama Davranışı

Abstract

Yaşça ileri olan bireyler toplumda genellikle sağlık sorunlarını daha fazla yaşamakta olup, COVID-19
döneminde ç´şitli tehditlere maruz kalmışlardır. Bu doğrultuda bu çalışmada sosyal medyanın, bu toplumsal
grubun çevrimiçi sağlık bilgisi araştırma davranışları Nijerya bağlamında incelenmektedir. Çalışmada
Krejcie ve Morgan (1970) tekniği uygulanarak örneklem belirlenmesi yapılmış ve nicel bir araştırmayla 384
kişiye anket uygulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak çalışmada sosyal medyanın sağlık davranışlarını olumlu etkilediği
ortaya çıkmış ve sosyal medyadan elde edilen bilgiler güvenilir bulunmuştur. Diğer yandan çalışmada
sosyal medyadan elde edilen verilerin her zaman doğru olmayabileceğinden hareketle yaşı ilerlemiş
bireylerin sosyal medyada sağlık bilgilerini takip ederken dikkat etmesi gerektiğinin altı çizilmektedir.
Sosyal medyada doğru ve yanlış bilginin ayırt edilmesinin sağlanması önem taşımakta, bilgilerin mutlaka
sağlık profesyonellerine danışılarak kontrol edilmesi gerekmektedir. Bu alanda gerçekleştirilerek gelecek
çalışmaların konuya farklı açılardan ışık tutması amaçlanmıştır.

Keywords

COVID-19, yaşlılar, sağlık, sağlık iletişimi, Bilgi-Arama Davranışı, Sosyal medya

References

• Agbo, C.C. (2021). Social impact of myths and misconception about coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. SANGKÉP: Jurnal Kajian Sosial Keagamaan, (4) 1, 1-19.
• Ameh, S., Gómez-Olivé, F. X., Kahn, K., Tollman, S. M., & Klipstein-Grobusch, K. (2014). Predictors of health care use by adults 50 years and over in a rural South African setting. Global Health Action, 7, 1-11.
• Antheunis, M. L., Tates, K., & Nieboer, T. E. (2013). Patients’ and health professionals’ use of social media in health care: Motives, barriers and expectations. Patient Education and Counseling, 92(3), 426–431.
• Atun, R., Jaffar, S., Nishtar, S., Knaul, F. M., Barreto, M. L., Nyirenda, M., & Piot, P. (2013). Improving the responsiveness of health systems to non-communicable diseases. Lancet, 381(9867), 690–697.
• Balogun, S. A., & Guntupalli, A. M. (2016). Gender difference in the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of mobility disability among older adults in Nigeria. European Journal of Ageing, 13(3), 231–239.
• Baran, K. S., & Stock, W. G. (2015). Facebook has been smacked down. The Russian special way of SNSs: Vkontakte as a case study. Paper presented at the 2nd European Conference on Social Media (ECSM 2015). Porto, Portugal, 9-10 July 2015.
• Boulos, M. N. K. (2012). On social media in health literacy. Webmed Central Health Informatics, 3(1), WMC002936.
• Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230.
• CDCP. (2019). Coronavirus disease: COVID-19 situation summary. Retrieved July 23, 2020 from https://www. cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html.
• Choi, J. S., & Yang, N. Y. (2010). Perceived knowledge, attitude, and compliance with preventive behavior on influenza a (H1N1) by university students. Journal of Korean Academy of Adult Nursing, 22(3), 250–259.
• Chou, W.S., Hunt, Y.M., Beckjord, E.B., Moser, R.P., & Hesse, B.W. (2009). Social media use in the United States: Implications for health communication. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 11(4), e48.
• Debpuur, C., Welaga, P., Wak, G., & Hodgson, A. (2010). Self-reported health and functional limitations among older people in the Kassena-Nankana District, Ghana. Global Health Action, 3, 54-63.
• Efthimiadis, E. N. (2009). How students search for consumer health information on the web. Paper presented at the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Big Island, HI, USA, 5-8 January 2009.
• Egunjobi, L. (1983). Factors influencing choice of hospitals: A case study of the northern part of Oyo State, Nigeria. Social Science & Medicine, 17(9), 585–589.
• Ewodage, R. (March 22, 2020). COVID-19: How we plan to implement social distancing in lagos markets, transport system – sanwo-olu. Retrieved from June 4, 2020 https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/22/covid-19- how-we – plan-to-implement-socialdistancing-in-lagos-markets-transport-system-sanwo-olu/
• Eysenbach, G., & Köhler, C. (2002). How do consumers search for and appraise health information on the World Wide Web? Qualitative study using focus groups, usability tests, and in-depth interviews. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 324(7337), 573-577.
• Fox, S., & Duggan, M., (2013). Health online 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2021 from https://www.pewresearch.org/ internet/2013/01/15/health-online-2013/.
• Fox, S. (2011a). Health topics. Retrieved April 10, 2021 from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics. aspx.
• Fox, S. (2011b). Four in ten seniors go online. Retrieved March 18, 2021 from http://www.pewinternet.org/ Commentary/2010/January/38-of-adults-age-65-go-online.aspx.
• Gesualdo, F., Romano, M., Pandolfi, E., Rizzo, C., Rava, L., Lucente, D., & Tozzi, A. E. (2010). Surfing the web during pandemic flu: Availability of World Health Organization recommendations on prevention. BMC Public Health, 10(561), 1-8.
• Gureje, O., Ogunniyi, A., Kola, L., & Afolabi, E. (2006). Functional disability in elderly Nigerians: Results from the Ibadan study of aging. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 54(11), 1784–1789.
• Gureje, O., Kola, L., Ademola, A., & Olley, B. O. (2009). Profile, comorbidity and impact of insomnia in the Ibadan study of ageing. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(7), 686–693.
• Hall, A .K., Stellefson, M., & Bernhardt, J. M. (2011). Healthy ageing 2.0: The potential of new media and technology. Preventing Chronic Disease, 9, 1-4.
• Hansen, D. L., Derry, H. A., Resnick, P. J., & Richardson, C. R. (2003). Adolescents searching for health information on the internet: An observational study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 5(4), e25.
• Hogan, B. (2018). Social media giveth, social media taketh away: Facebook, friendships, and APIs. International Journal of Communication, 12, 592–611.
• Hou, J., Ndasauka, Y., Pan, X., Chen, S., Xu, F., & Zhang, X. (2018). Weibo or WeChat? Assessing preference for social networking sites and role of personality traits and psychological factors. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1-9.
• Huang, M., Hansen, D., & Xie, B. (2012). Older adults’ online health information seeking behavior. Paper presented at the 2012 iConference. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. February 2012.
• Hussain, Z. A., Hussain, S. A., & Hussain, F. A. (2012). Medical students’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions towards the H1N1 influenza, swine flu, in Pakistan: A brief report. American Journal of Infection Control, 40(3), e11–e13.
• Janz, D. R., Mackey, S., Patel, N., Saccoccia, B. P., St Romain, M., Busack, B., Lee, H., Phan, L., Vaughn, J., Feinswog, D., Chan, R., Auerbach, L., Sausen, N., Grace, J., Sackey, M., Das, A., Gordon, A. O., Schwehm,
• J., McGoey, R., Happel, K. I., … Kantrow, S. P. (2021). Critically Ill adults with coronavirus disease 2019 in New Orleans and care with an evidence-based Protocol. Chest, 159(1), 196–204.
• Julius, K., K. (2020). Social media consumption in Kenya: Trends and influence on behaviour change in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Journal of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, 6(2), 66-75.
• Kakwani, N., & Subbarao, K. (2007). Poverty among the elderly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the role of social pensions. Journal of Development Studies, 43(6), 987-1008.
• Kheokao, J., & Ubolwan, K. (2019). Online health information seeking behaviours among the Thai elderly social media users. TLA Research Journal, 12(1), 60-76.
• Kim, H. K, Atkinson, L., & Kahlor, L. A. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 misinformation on information seeking, avoidance, and processing: A multicountry comparative study. Science Communication, 42(5), 1-30.
• Krejcie, R. V. & Morgan, V. D. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 607-610.
• Kreps, G .L., & Neuhauser, L. (2010). New directions in eHealth communication: Opportunities and challenges. Patient Education and Counseling, 78(3), 329-336.
• Kurniawan, S. (2008). Older people and mobile phones: A multi-method investigation. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 66(12), 889–901.
• Kyobutungi, C., Egondi, T., & Ezeh, A. (2010). The health and well-being of olderpeople in Nairobi’s slums. Global Health Action Supplement, 2, 45-52.
• Lagoe, C. & Atkin, D. (2015). Health anxiety in the digital age. Computers in Human Behavior Archive, 52, 484- 491.
• Leppin, A. & Aro, A .R. (2009). Risk perception related to SARS and avian influenza: Theoretical foundations of current behavioral research. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 16(1), 7–29.
• Li, Y., Wang, X., Lin, X. & Hajli, M. (2016). Seeking and sharing health information on social media: A net valence model and cross-cultural comparison. Technology Forecasting Social Change, 126, 28-40.
• Liu, L. P. (2020). COVID-19 information seeking on digital media and preventive behaviours: The mediation role of worry. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 23(10), 1-6.
• Miranda, S. M., Young, A., & Yetgin, E. (2016). Are social media emancipatory or hegemonic? Societal effects of mass media digitization. MIS Quarterly, 40(2), 303–329.
• Mislove, A., Lehmann, S., Ahn, Y. Y., Onnela, J. P., & Rosenquist, J. N. (2011). Understanding the demographics of Twitter users. Paper presented at the Fifth International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 17–21 July 2011.
• Miszkurka, M., Haddad, S., Langlois, É. V., Freeman, E. E., Kouanda, S., & Zunzunegui, M. V. (2012). Heavy burden of non-communicable diseases at early age and gender disparities in an adult population of Burkina Faso: World health survey. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 1–10.
• Mwanyangala, M. A., Mayombana, C., Urassa, H., Charles, J., Mahutanga, C., Abdullah, S., & Nathan, R. (2010). Health status and quality of life among older adults in rural Tanzania. Global Health Action, 3(1), 36-44.
• NCDC. (February 12, 2022). COVID – 19 in Nigeria. Retrieved February 12, 2020 from https://covid19.ncdc. gov.ng/
• NCDC. (April 27, 2020). COVID – 19 in Nigeria. Retrieved April 27, 2020 from https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/
• Onadja, Y., Atchessi, N., Soura, B. A., Rossier, C., & Zunzunegui, M. V. (2013). Gender differences in cognitive impairment and mobility disability in old age: A cross-sectional study in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 57(3), 311–318.
• Owuor, I. & Hochmair, H. H. (2020). An overview of social media apps and their potential role in geospatial research. International Journal of Geo-Information, 9(9), 526.
• Peterson, G., Aslani, P., & Williams, K. A. (2003). How do consumers search for and appraise information on medicines on the internet? A qualitative study using focus groups. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 5(4), e33.
• Powell, J. A., Darvell, M., & Gray, J. A. (2003). The doctor, the patient and the World Wide Web: How the internet is changing healthcare. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 96(2), 74-76.
• Rattanawarang, W. (2015). Elderly’s internet usage for health information in Bangkok region. Journal of Behavioral Science for Development, 7(1), 169-185. Reuters Institute Digital News Report (2019). Retrieved May 6, 2020 from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac. uk/sites/default/files/2019-06/DNR_2019_FINAL_0.pdf.
• Rice, R. (2006). Influences, usage and outcomes of internet health information searching: Multivariate results from the Pew surveys. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 75(1), 8–28.
• Smith, A & Anderson, M. (2018). Social media use in 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2020 from https://www. pewresearch.org/internet/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/
• Sugimoto, C.R., Work, S., Larivière, V., & Haustein, S. (2017). Scholarly use of social media and altmetrics: A review of the literature. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 68, 2037– 2062.
• Tayati, P., Disathaporn, C., & Onming, R. (2017). The model of Thai elderly learning management for information and communication technology literacy. Veridian E-Journal, Silpakorn University, 10(3), 1456-1471.
• Tennant, B., Stellafson, M., Chaney, B., Chaney, D. J., & Dodd, V. (2013). Social media for health information among adults in the state of Florida. Retrieved February 20, 2021 from https://www.bebr.ufl.edu/survey/ website-article/social-media-health-information-among-older-adults-state-florida.
• Udenze, S., & Ugoala, B. (2019). Building and constructing identity on WhatsApp: A netnographic approach. World of Media: Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies,, 4, 49-69.
• Udenze, S., & Oshionebo, B. (2020). Investigating WhatsApp for collaborative learning among undergraduates. Etkileşim, 5, 24-50.
• Udenze, S., & Uzochukwu, C. E. (2021). Promoting mental wellbeing: Young adults’ experience on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Nigeria. Interações: Sociedade e as Novas Modernidades, 40, 9-29.
• United Nations. (2006). World population prospects: The 2006 revision, highlights. New York: The United Nations.
• Uzochukwu, B. S. C., & Onwujekwe, O. E. (2004). Socio-economic differences and health-seeking behaviour for the diagnosis and treatment of Malaria: A case study of four local government areas operating the Bamako initiative programme in south-east Nigeria. International Journal for Equity in Health, 3(6), 1-10.
• Vance, K., Howe, W., & Dellavalle, R. P. (2009). Social internet sites as a source of public health information. Dermatologic Clinics, 27(2), 133-136.
• Wandera, S. O., Kwagala, B., & Ntozi, J. (2015). Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: A cross-sectional study. International Journal for Equity in Health, 14(26), 1-10.
• Weaver, J. (2003). More people search for health online. NBCNews. Retrieved November 12, 2019 from http:// www.nbcnews.com/id/3077086/t/more-people-search-health-online/#.W-TRgNIzbIU.
• Westerman, D., Van Der Heide, B., Klein, K. A., & Walther, J. B. (2008). How do people really seek information about others? Information seeking across the internet and traditional communication channels. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(3), 751–767.
• WHO. (2005). Definition of an older or elderly person: A proposed working definition of an older person in Africa for the MDS project. Retrieved June 21, 2020 from http://www.who.int/healthinfo/ survey/ageingdefnolder/ en/.
• Xavier Gómez-Olivé, F., Thorogood, M., Clark, B. D., Kahn, K., & Tollman, S. M. (2010). Assessing health and well-being among older people in rural South Africa. Global Health Action, 3(1), 23-35.
• Xavier, A. J., d’Orsi, E., Wardle, J., Demakakos, P., Smith, S. G., & von Wagner, C. (2013). Internet use and cancerpreventive behaviours in older adults: Findings from a longitudinal cohort study. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention: A Publication of The American Association for Cancer Research, Cosponsored by The American Society of Preventive Oncology, 22(11), 2066–2074.
• Xie, B. (2009). Older adults’ health information wants in the internet age: Implications for patient-provider relationships. Journal of Health Communication, 14, 510–524.
• Ybarra, M., & Suman, M. (2008). Reasons, assessments and actions taken: Sex and age differences in uses of internet health information. Health Education Research, 23(3), e512.
• Yeboah, J. & Ewur, G. D. (2014). The impact of Whatsapp messenger usage on students’ performance in tertiary institutions in Ghana. Journal of Education and Practice, 5(6), 157-164.