Publication date: Feb 06, 2025

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. 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. 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) and class level (p) influenced the choice of sources (p=0. 011; p:0. 0001) and the factors determining this choice (p=0. 011-0. 022; p=0. 0001-0. 005), topic preferences were only influenced by class level (p>0. 05; pclasslevel = 0. 0001-0. 022). 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.

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Semantics

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