Table 5.
DISCERN score by language, content, and source.
| DISCERN item 1 score mean ± SD | DISCERN item 2 score mean ± SD | DISCERN item 3 score mean ± SD | DISCERN item 4 score mean ± SD | DISCERN item 5 score mean ± SD | Total DISCERN score mean ± SD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 0.97 ± 0.18 | 0.52 ± 0.50 | 0.91 ± 0.28 | 0.36 ± 0.48 | 0.25 ± 0.44 | 3.01 ± 1.11 |
|
| ||||||
| Languages | <0.01 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| English (n = 75) | 1 ± 0 | 0.75 ± 0.44 | 0.99 ± 0.12 | 0.69 ± 0.46 | 0.44 ± 0.5 | 3.87 ± 0.91 |
| isiZulu (n = 54) | 0.91 ± 0.29 | 0.59 ± 0.5 | 0.78 ± 0.42 | 0.26 ± 0.44 | 0.13 ± 0.34 | 2.67 ± 1.37 |
| isiXhosa (n = 49) | 0.94 ± 0.24 | 0.53 ± 0.5 | 1 ± 0 | 0.18 ± 0.39 | 0.08 ± 0.28 | 2.73 ± 0.88 |
| Afrikaans (n = 50) | 0.9 ± 0.3 | 0.36 ± 0.48 | 0.8 ± 0.4 | 0.1 ± 0.3 | 0.08 ± 0.27 | 2.24 ± 1.06 |
| Nigerian pidgin (n = 53) | 1 ± 0 | 0.21 ± 0.41 | 0.98 ± 0.14 | 0.32 ± 0.47 | 0.17 ± 0.38 | 2.68 ± 0.85 |
| Hausa (n = 40) | 0.92 ± 0.27 | 0.82 ± 0.38 | 0.55 ± 0.5 | 0.6 ± 0.5 | 0.55 ± 0.5 | 3.45 ± 0.99 |
| Twi (n = 45) | 1 ± 0 | 0.33 ± 0.48 | 0.98 ± 0.15 | 0.22 ± 0.42 | 0.16 ± 0.37 | 2.69 ± 0.95 |
| Arabic (n = 50) | 0.98 ± 0.14 | 0.64 ± 0.48 | 0.96 ± 0.2 | 0.3 ± 0.46 | 0.36 ± 0.48 | 3.24 ± 0.94 |
| French (n = 46) | 0.98 ± 0.15 | 0.83 ± 0.38 | 0.96 ± 0.21 | 0.3 ± 0.47 | 0.26 ± 0.44 | 3.33 ± 0.87 |
| Swahili (n = 50) | 1 ± 0 | 0.26 ± 0.44 | 0.94 ± 0.24 | 0.48 ± 0.5 | 0.26 ± 0.44 | 2.94 ± 1 |
| Amharic (n = 50) | 1 ± 0 | 0.32 ± 0.47 | 1 ± 0 | 0.42 ± 0.5 | 0.28 ± 0.45 | 3.02 ± 1.24 |
|
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| Content | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.48 | 0.10 | |
| Informative (n = 471) | 0.98 ± 0.14 | 0.53 ± 0.5 | 0.93 ± 0.26 | 0.37 ± 0.48 | 0.24 ± 0.42 | 3.03 ± 1.06 |
| Misleading (n = 12) | 0.75 ± 0.45 | 0.25 ± 0.45 | 0.58 ± 0.51 | 0.17 ± 0.39 | 0.25 ± 0.45 | 2 ± 1.35 |
| News update (n = 59) | 0.97 ± 0.18 | 0.61 ± 0.49 | 0.98 ± 0.13 | 0.41 ± 0.5 | 0.37 ± 0.49 | 3.34 ± 1.01 |
| Personal experience (n = 20) | 0.85 ± 0.37 | 0.1 ± 0.31 | 0.55 ± 0.51 | 0.35 ± 0.49 | 0.35 ± 0.49 | 2.2 ± 1.58 |
|
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| Source | 0.02 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.25 | <0.001 | |
| Independent users (n = 246) | 0.94 ± 0.23 | 0.37 ± 0.48 | 0.85 ± 0.35 | 0.32 ± 0.47 | 0.24 ± 0.43 | 2.73 ± 1.18 |
| Government (n = 84) | 1 ± 0 | 0.52 ± 0.5 | 1 ± 0 | 0.42 ± 0.5 | 0.11 ± 0.31 | 3.05 ± 0.97 |
| News agency (n = 118) | 0.97 ± 0.18 | 0.56 ± 0.5 | 0.91 ± 0.29 | 0.38 ± 0.49 | 0.41 ± 0.49 | 3.22 ± 1.1 |
| Academic institutions/hospitals (n = 93) | 1 ± 0 | 0.83 ± 0.38 | 0.97 ± 0.18 | 0.43 ± 0.5 | 0.24 ± 0.43 | 3.46 ± 0.88 |
| Medical adverts/for-profit companies (n = 21) | 1 ± 0 | 0.57 ± 0.51 | 1 ± 0 | 0.29 ± 0.46 | 0.19 ± 0.4 | 3.05 ± 0.92 |