Identifying the Information Needs of Covid-19 Patients in Kashan

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the emergence of new information needs for people with diverse information literacy. Both infected and healthy people feel the need to have essential and practical information about this pandemic. One of the concerns of Covid-19 patients is their need for reliable and sufficient information about various aspects of the disease. Understanding the information needs of patients and the experiences of people who have been infected and recovered from the disease can be a suitable and reliable source of information. So the aim of this study was to identify the information needs of patients with Covid-19.

This research was employed a qualitative approach using conventional content analysis. Key informants were Covid-19 recovered patients in Kashan city who had a history of admission in medical centers. Sampling consisted 17 participants (11 males and 6 females) who were selected from almost different social classes through purposeful method. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview and the saturation point was reached at 17 interviews. Data were analyzed using the Diekelmann’s seven-stage method.

The results of this study included 430 primary codes that after removing and merging duplicate codes, seven main themes and 30 categories were identified in the field of information needs were extracted. Main themes and categories included understanding the nature of the disease (the origin of the disease, knowledge about the symptoms, transmission and types of mutations), prevention (health protocols, prevention equipments, and vaccination), treatment (diagnostic tests, type of disease treatment, disease process, costs, psychological support), nutrition (the type of nutrition for prevention, during illness and after recovery), communication with others (type, length and conditions of quarantine, how to communicate with others), statistics, and information sources (up-to-date, valid, and types).

The most critical information needs of Covid-19 patients include information about the nature, treatment, and preventive measures of the disease. Social media and oral information such as doctors, friends, and acquaintances were also reported as the most important sources of information. Therefore, this study suggests that health managers provide the most up-to-date and reliable information and news related to Covid-19 through the most appropriate and accessible media.