Digital health misinformation among algerian youth: consumption patterns, trust configurations, and policy gaps
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51247/st.v9i3.865Palabras clave:
desinformación en salud; alfabetización digital en salud; confianza institucional; juventud argelina.Resumen
The rapid spread of health misinformation through digital platforms has become a growing challenge for public health systems worldwide. In Algeria, where social media use among young people is widespread, empirical evidence on the factors shaping the acceptance and circulation of misleading health information remains limited. The objective of this study was to examine how Algerian youth consume, resist, and reproduce digital health misinformation and to assess the extent to which existing health communication policies address these patterns. The methodology employed a convergent mixed-methods design that integrated a stratified survey of 312 participants from four Algerian wilayas, the eHEALS scale to measure digital health literacy, 40 semi-structured interviews, four focus groups, and six months of netnographic observation across WhatsApp groups and health-oriented Instagram and TikTok pages. The results revealed that WhatsApp was the primary source of health information (37.5%), whereas official health websites were used by only 2.9% of participants. The mean eHEALS score was 21.29/40 (SD = 5.18), with significant disparities between rural and urban respondents. Furthermore, institutional trust partially mediated the relationship between digital health literacy and susceptibility to misinformation. The conclusions indicate that vulnerability to health misinformation among Algerian youth is driven primarily by deficits in institutional trust rather than by informational literacy limitations alone, highlighting the need for health communication strategies that prioritize trust-building mechanisms alongside information dissemination.
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Derechos de autor 2026 Omar Benchaa
Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0.
