Mobile App-Assisted Patient Education in the Public Health: Minimizing Vaccine Anxiety and Managing Long-Term and Post-Covid-19 Effects

The challenge of vaccine hesitancy, especially towards COVID-19 vaccination, is raised by the widespread dissemination of misinformation, leading to increased anxiety among potential recipients. The primary objective is to assess the impact of a mobile app-based educational intervention on reducing anxiety associated with COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, this study aims to establish the baseline prevalence of vaccine-related anxiety within the target population. A pre-test–post-test design was utilized for this study, conducted from March to August 2021 among residents of rural areas in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A mobile app containing accurate and up-to-date vaccine-related information was developed for the educational intervention. Participants' levels of anxiety regarding COVID-19 vaccination were measured before and after the intervention using a standardized questionnaire. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied for statistical analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Initial findings indicated that 56.90% of participants (n=268) experienced "mild to moderate" anxiety levels towards the COVID-19 vaccine before the intervention. Following the educational intervention, there was a statistically significant reduction in anxiety levels, with only 36.30% (n=171) reporting "mild to moderate" anxiety and 27.39% (n=129) indicating "moderate to severe" anxiety levels. The educational intervention's impact was statistically significant, with a p-value of 0.001. This study confirms that a mobile app-based educational intervention can significantly lower anxiety levels among individuals in rural Yogyakarta, Indonesia, concerning COVID-19 vaccination. These results highlight the potential of such interventions to effectively combat vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccine acceptance in similar contexts. This strategy shows promise in aiding global efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic and future vaccination initiatives.