Misinformation, perceptions towards COVID-19 and willingness to be vaccinated: A population-based survey in Yemen

• Published in: PloS one 2021-10, Vol.16 (10), p.e0248325
• Main Authors: Bitar, Ahmad Naoras, Zawiah, Mohammed, Al-Ashwal, Fahmi Y, Kubas, Mohammed, Saeed, Ramzi Mukred, Abduljabbar, Rami, Jaber, Ammar Ali Saleh, Sulaiman, Syed Azhar Syed, Khan, Amer Hayat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceptance tests; Adult; Biology and Life Sciences; Communication; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 - psychology; COVID-19 vaccines; COVID-19 Vaccines - administration & dosage; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control; Disease Outbreaks - statistics & numerical data; Earth Sciences; Education; False information; FDA approval; Female; Humans; Income; Likert scale; Male; Management; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Men; People and Places; Perceptions; Pharmaceutical industry; Pharmaceutical sciences; Pharmaceuticals; Pharmacy; Polls & surveys; Population; Questionnaires; Racing; Rural areas; Sample size; Sampling techniques; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Social networks; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistical analysis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Susceptibility; Urban areas; Vaccination; Vaccination - psychology; Vaccination - statistics & numerical data; Vaccination Refusal - psychology; Vaccination Refusal - statistics & numerical data; Vaccines; Viral diseases; Viruses; Websites; Worry; Yemen - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248325

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, many pharmaceutical companies have been racing to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Simultaneously, rumors and misinformation about COVID-19 are still widely spreading. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation among the Yemeni population and its association with vaccine acceptance and perceptions. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in four major cities in Yemen. The constructed questionnaire consisted of four main sections (sociodemographic data, misinformation, perceptions (perceived susceptibility, severity, and worry), and vaccination acceptance evaluation). Subject recruitment and data collection were conducted online utilizing social websites and using the snowball sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using SPSS version 27. The total number of respondents was 484. Over 60% of them were males and had a university education. More than half had less than 100$ monthly income and were khat chewers, while only 18% were smokers. Misinformation prevalence ranged from 8.9% to 38.9%, depending on the statement being asked. Men, university education, higher income, employment, and living in urban areas were associated with a lower misinformation level (p