The process of obtaining information about COVID-19 among students of physiotherapy and rehabilitation department
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Background This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the process of obtaining information about COVID-19 infection among students of the Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation (DPR) by examining the topic of information seeking, information source preference, and factors influencing these preferences. Methods A total of 495/645 (76.74%) DPR students participated in the study. The data collection form prepared by the researchers was administered between May-June 2022 using face-to-face interview technique. Students' sociodemographic data (age, biological sex, body mass index) and the main topics they researched about COVID-19, information sources, and factors influencing their choice of sources were recorded. Results Students often preferred to use internet social media (61.00%) and sources they considered reliable (81.40%) to access basic clinical information about COVID-19 (the routes of transmission = 30.30%, the main symptoms = 26.30%, number of cases = 22.60%). While biological sex (p(biologicalsex)) and class level (p(classlevel)) influenced the choice of sources (p(biologicalsex)=0.011; p(classlevel):0.0001) and the factors determining this choice (p(biologicalsex)=0.011-0.022; p(classlevel)=0.0001-0.005), topic preferences were only influenced by class level (p(biologicalsex)>0.05; p(classlevel) = 0.0001-0.022). Conclusion DPR students should be supported with reliable and up-to-date social media-based digital content prepared by experts in the field about physiotherapy practice and with easy access to scientific data, even in the late stages of pandemic processes such as COVID-19, when the need for access to information is high due to their professional role.