Impact of Social Media Infodemics on Mental Health among Health Colleges’ Students at Saudi Universities during COVID-19 Pandemic

Saudi Arabia has been severely affected by COVID-19 since March 2020. The COVID-19 “infodemic” has spread a plethora of misinformation on social media leading to public panic and serious public health consequences. We aimed to investigate the impact of social media infodemics on mental health status among health colleges’ students, as future healthcare workers, at Saudi universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We used a cross-sectional web-based survey to collect data from 400 health colleges’ students. We assessed average time spent on social media and used the shortened Pittsburgh sleep quality index, generalized anxiety disorder scale, and Center for Epidemiology scale for depression to measure sleep quality, generalized anxiety disorder, and depressive symptoms. Generalized linear regression was used to determine associations with mental health burdens.

About 21.5% reported more than 3 hours/day of exposure to social media. Prevalence of poor sleep quality, anxiety, and depression disorders was 16%, 31%, and 24%, respectively. No significant difference was determined between males and females (P>0.05); however, a significant association was detected with time spent on social media (P<0.001).

We found a significant mental health burden among health colleges’ students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spending too much time on social media is a potential risk factor. Controlling social media infodemics, early mental health interventions, and continuous monitoring of consequences should become routine as part of preparedness efforts.