European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

DIGITAL HEALTH LITERACY AND VACCINE HESITANCY AMONG DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY IN MALAYSIA 2021

Thin Mon Kyaw*, Lei Lei Win, Yin Moe Han5, Roy Rillera Marzo, Muhammad Haikal Bin Che Arif, Nurul Fadzlee Bin Hairul Shamilie, Umar Farhan Bin Mazlan and Muhammad Luqman Bin Mohamad Shahriman

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Digital literacy provides a critical platform for disseminating current knowledge about COVID-19 disease and vaccination. Through internet literacy, information about COVID-19 sickness and COVID-19 vaccine spread as quickly as the disease itself, especially among Malaysians. The overall goal of this study is to look into the relationship between digital health literacy and vaccine apprehension among Malaysians of various ages. Methods: A total of 1524 Malaysian citizens above 18 years old participated in this cross-sectional web based online survey. Standardized questions were generated using Google form and the link was distributed through social media platforms. Development of Digital Health Literacy (DDHL) was used to assess and generate the questionnaire on digital health literacy among the target population in the study. All data analysed by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences-version 26). Descriptive analysis, chi-square analyses and binary logistic regression model analysis were carried out. Results: 1500 respondents were recruited in this study. Among them, 24 out of 1524 respondents were not counted in this survey as they did not give consent prior answering the questionnaire. Majority of respondents, almost 75% coming from adults age group, and followed by young adults with 15%. The smallest percentage was contributed by the old adults age group with only 5%. Many factors were observed that can promote vaccine hesitancy. Examples include age, gender, amount of money at their disposal, educational status, and digital health literacy. Conclusion: There are several opinions and also perspectives regarding the vaccine among different age group in Malaysia and also many associations seen to be linked with their hesitancy to accept the vaccination whether it can be from social media influence, peer pressure, level of knowledge and literacy of literature.

Keywords: Digital health literacy, Adults, COVID-19 vaccine, Vaccine hesitancy, Different age groups, Malaysia.