* The correlations are significant at thep <0.05 level.
** The correlations are significant at thep <0.001 level.
Table 5 presents the results of simple linear regression analyses applied to determine the effect of the mean score of the FCV-19S on the perception of reliability and the use of health information sources. Based on these results, the effects of fear of COVID-19 on the perceptions of health information sources’ reliability on radio and newspaper/journal were statistically significant (p < 0.05). A one-unit increase in fear of COVID-19 caused a 0.60-unit increase in the perception of radio as a safer source, and it caused a 0.49-unit increase in the perception of newspapers/magazines as a safer source. All the effects of fear of COVID-19 on the use of health information sources were statistically significant (p <0.05). Although the fear of COVID-19 had a negative effect on internet use, the effects on the use of other health information sources were positive. Based on these results, a one-unit increase in fear of COVID-19 decreased internet use by 0.38 units, but increased television use by 0.44 units, radio use by 0.51 units, newspaper/magazine use by 0.37 units, scientific article use by 0.39 units, doctor use by 0.54 units, nurse use by 0.83 units, pharmacists use by 0.77 units, and use of other health professionals by 0.61 units (p < 0.05).
Table 5. The effects of fear of COVID-19 on reliability perception and use of health information sources