The role of e-health on the public knowledge and behavior in preventing COVID-19

BACKGROUND: Electronic health (e-health) technologies play an important role in improving public knowledge and behavior to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aimed to investigate the role of e-health on the public knowledge and behavior in preventing COVID-19 in Kerman, a city in Iran. METHODS: The present descriptive cross-sectional study used an online survey in Kerman in November 2021. The research instrument was a tripartite questionnaire that included demographic information, the level of respondents' knowledge about COVID-19, the extent of change in respondents’ behavior influenced by e-health. Negative binomial regression analysis was run to test the relationship between individual characteristics and the research variables with knowledge and behavior. Spearman correlation test was used to measure the correlation between the two main parts of the survey. RESULTS: As the negative binomial regression analysis results showed, the relationship between no demographic variable and the public knowledge and behavior was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The mean knowledge and behavior scores were 5.84 ± 2.55 and 11.95 ± 5.09, respectively, showing that people who used e-health had a high level of knowledge, and taking preventive measures was at a high level. The Spearman correlation coefficient test results showed a positive association between knowledge and behavior (r = 0.71). CONCLUSION: E-health played a decisive role in increasing knowledge and improving behavior in preventing COVID-19. The results of our research can encourage the use of e-health to improve the public knowledge and behavior in pandemics such as COVID-19.