The Impact of Media on Public Health Awareness Concerning the Use of Natural Remedies Against the COVID-19 Outbreak in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major health system problems and has fueled the emergence of various misinformation regarding preventive measures. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of media on raising the level of health awareness of Saudi Arabian populations regarding the medical misinformation about the use of natural remedies against COVID-19. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted anonymously in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between May 1st and June 30, 2020. The sample size was calculated using version-3.0 of OpenEpi. An 11-item questionnaire was designed to assess the effect of media on raising the level of health awareness of the population regarding the medical misinformation about the use of natural remedies during this pandemic. RESULTS: Among 1300 participants, nearly half (55.4%) reported having watched the Saudi Ministry of Health’s (MOH) broadcasted awareness videos. Social media (78.9%) was the main media platform on which they accessed these videos, followed by television (14.9%), and the Internet (6.2%). The MOH’s awareness videos had a positive effect on 69.5% of participants, who reported a change in their attitudes toward natural remedies and discontinuing the use of them as preventive medicine. The most discontinued natural remedies after watching the awareness videos were gargling with salt water (32.1%), followed by myrrh (17.6%), and garlic (12.9%). Positive effects were greater among participants with a low than high education level. CONCLUSION: The findings of the current study indicate that the Saudi MOH’s usage of social media channels has had a positive effect on the level of public health awareness concerning the reliability of natural remedies used during the pandemic. However, more research is needed to validate how social media networks can be used in a cross-cultural context to enhance health awareness and adaptation to healthy behaviors.