Trust in sources of information on COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic's first wave and incident persistent symptoms in the population-based CONSTANCES cohort: A prospective study

Joane Matta; Emmanuel Wiernik; Olivier Robineau; Gianluca Severi; Mathilde Touvier; Clément Gouraud; Charles Ouazana-Vedrines; Victor Pitron; Brigitte Ranque; Nicolas Hoertel; Omer Van den Bergh; Michael Witthöft; Sofiane Kab; Marcel Goldberg; Marie Zins; Cédric Lemogne

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111326

Trust in sources of information on COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic's first wave and incident persistent symptoms in the population-based CONSTANCES cohort: A prospective study

J Psychosom Res. 2023 Jun:169:111326. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111326. Epub 2023 Apr 5.

Authors

Joane Matta¹, Emmanuel Wiernik¹, Olivier Robineau², Gianluca Severi³, Mathilde Touvier⁴, Clément Gouraud⁵, Charles Ouazana-Vedrines⁶, Victor Pitron⁷, Brigitte Ranque⁸, Nicolas Hoertel⁹, Omer Van den Bergh¹⁰, Michael Witthöft¹¹, Sofiane Kab¹, Marcel Goldberg¹, Marie Zins¹, Cédric Lemogne¹²

Affiliations

¹ Université Paris Cité, « Population-based Cohorts Unit », INSERM, Paris Saclay University, UVSQ, UMS 011, Paris, France.
² Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut Pierre-Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France; EA2694, Univ Lille, Centre Hospitalier de Tourcoing, France.
³ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications "G. Parenti", University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
⁴ Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center - Université Paris Cité (CRESS), Bobigny, France.
⁵ Service de Psychiatrie de l'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, F-75004 Paris, France.
⁶ Service de Psychiatrie de l'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, F-75004 Paris, France; Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1266, Institut de Psychiatrie et Neuroscience de Paris, F-75014 Paris, France.
⁷ Université Paris Cité, VIFASOM (Vigilance Fatigue Sommeil et Santé Publique), Paris, France; Centre du Sommeil et de la Vigilance-Pathologie professionnelle, APHP, Hôtel-Dieu, F-75004 Paris, France.
⁸ Université Paris Cité, Service de Médecine interne, AP-HP, Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France.
⁹ Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1266, Institut de Psychiatrie et Neuroscience de Paris, F-75014 Paris, France; Service de Psychiatrie et Addictologie, AP-HP, Hôpital Corentin-Celton, DMU Psychiatrie et Addictologie, F-92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.
¹⁰ Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Experimental Psychopathology, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55122 Mainz, Germany.
¹² Service de Psychiatrie de l'adulte, AP-HP, Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu, F-75004 Paris, France; Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1266, Institut de Psychiatrie et Neuroscience de Paris, F-75014 Paris, France. Electronic address: cedric.lemogne@aphp.fr.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between trust in different sources of information on COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic and the burden of incident persistent symptoms.

Methods: This prospective study used data from the SAPRIS and SAPRIS-Sérologie surveys nested in the French CONSTANCES population-based cohort. Trust in different information sources was measured between April 6 and May 4, 2020. Persistent symptoms that emerged afterwards were self-reported between December 2020 and January 2021. The associated psychological burden was measured with the somatic symptom disorder B criteria scale (SSD-12). The analyses were adjusted for gender, age, education, income, self-rated health, SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, and self-reported COVID-19.

Results: Among 20,985 participants [mean age (SD), 49.0 years (12.7); 50.2% women], those with higher trust in government/journalists at baseline had fewer incident persistent symptoms at follow-up (estimate (SE) for one IQR increase: -0.21 (0.03), p < 0.001). Participants with higher trust in government/journalists and medical doctors/scientists were less likely to have ≥1 symptom (odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for one IQR increase: 0.87 (0.82-0.91) and 0.91 (0.85-0.98), respectively). Among 3372 participants (16.1%) who reported ≥1 symptom, higher trust in government/journalists and medical doctors/scientists predicted lower SSD-12 scores (-0.39 (0.17), p = 0.02 and - 0.85 (0.24), p < 0.001, respectively), whereas higher trust in social media predicted higher scores in those with lower trust in government/journalists (0.90 (0.34), p = 0.008). These associations did not depend upon surrogate markers of infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Conclusions: Trust in information sources on COVID-19 may be associated with incident persistent symptoms and associated psychological burden, regardless of infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: Media; Persistent symptoms; Post-COVID condition; Risk factors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Information Sources
Male
Pandemics
Prospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2
Trust