Examining the Associations of Covid-19 Vaccine News Sources with the Intention of Changing Adherence to Covid-19 Preventive Health Measures: A Online-Based Study in the North of Iran

Background: Although the scientific literature has extensively discussed the impact of the media on people’s health-related behaviors, there is little evidence on the effect of different sources of Covid-19 vaccine news on changing the intention to adhere to health protocols. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the news sources of Covid vaccine 19 and the association of each of these sources with the intention of changing adherence to Covid-19 preventive health measures (ICA-Covid19-PHM). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1000 participants (67.4% female and 32.6% male) in the public population of Mazandaran province (age group of 18 to 60 years). The data were collected between January and April 2021 by completing an unidentified online “Google form" questionnaire via social media platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp, Soroush, ETA, and Instagram. The two-level linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between the news sources of the Covid19 vaccine and the ICA-Covid19-PHM (social and personal aspect). Results: The most common sources of receiving news were mass media (radio and television with 54%) and virtual networks with 49%. The results showed the ICA-Covid19-PHM for the news source via virtual (guild) groups was positive (B= 1.36; 95% CI: 0.31, 2.41; P-value = 0.01) and for the news sources via virtual networks (B= -0.83; 95% CI: -1.62, -0.05; P-value =0.04) and satellites and foreign news agencies (B= -1.50; 95% CI: -2.64, -0.36; P-value = 0.01) were negative. While, the ICA-Covid19-PHM was not significant (P>0.05) for other sources, such as groups of friends & neighbors, newspapers & magazines, radio & television, and news websites. Conclusion: The managing of news sources in epidemics are important, because they have associations with adherence to preventive health measures. The policymakers should consider the distribution of vaccine news sources on the ICA-Covid19-PHM.