Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41525683›Full record

ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2026

Digital Exclusion Among People Experiencing Homelessness and Residents of Urban Communities in Brazil: Cross-Sectional Study.

Ariela Fehr Tártaro, Dulce Gomes, Thaís Zamboni Berra, Reginaldo Bazon Vaz Tavares, Yan Mathias Alves, Letícia Perticarrara Ferezin, Antônio Carlos Vieira Ramos, Nathalia Zini, Maria Eduarda Pagano Pelodan, Marcela Antunes Paschoal Popolin and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Ariela Fehr TártaroEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-2329-6268
Dulce GomesDepartamento de Matemática, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0001-8085-1945
Thaís Zamboni BerraEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-4163-8719
Reginaldo Bazon Vaz TavaresEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-5378-6962
Yan Mathias AlvesEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-5596-0047
Letícia Perticarrara FerezinEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0003-1463-8155
Antônio Carlos Vieira RamosUnidade Acadêmica de Passos, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Passos, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-7862-1355
Nathalia ZiniEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0003-1891-1606
Maria Eduarda Pagano PelodanEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0001-7635-9675
Marcela Antunes Paschoal PopolinEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-8111-4370
Ricardo Alexandre ArcêncioEscola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0003-4792-8714

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic amplified digital divides in Brazil, restricting vulnerable groups' online access to health information and preventive guidance, with limited intersectional analyses of these inequities.

objectiveThis study aimed to investigate inequalities in digital exclusion and access to online COVID-19 information among people experiencing homelessness and residents of urban communities in Brazil by using an intersectional multilevel analysis.

methodsA cross-sectional study (2021-2023) involving 2652 participants (n=1353, 51% experiencing homelessness and n=1299, 49% from urban communities across 26 state capitals) was conducted using the adapted COVID-19 Social Thermometer questionnaire administered via face-to-face interviews. Multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy examined 115 intersectional strata (gender, race and ethnicity, schooling, income, and Brazilian Unified Health System use) with online COVID-19 information seeking as the binary outcome; multilevel logistic models estimated additive effects and between-strata variance.

resultsMost participants were men (1600/2652, 60.3%), self-identified as Black or Brown individuals (1942/2652, 73.2%), and were Unified Health System users (2433/2652, 91.7%) without private insurance (2469/2652, 93.1%). Over one-third (905/2652, 34.1%) had no formal schooling; 62.4% (1655/2652) reported low income. A total of 39.2% (1040/2652) sought online COVID-19 information. Being a woman (odds ratio [OR] 1.49, 95% CI 1.13-1.97), higher schooling (OR 1.78-5.59, 95% CI 3.52-8.88), and higher income (OR 2.37-4.54, 95% CI 2.59-7.93) showed a stronger association with online COVID-19 information seeking; public health system use was not associated with the outcome (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.64-1.33). Predicted probabilities ranged between 14% and 85% across 115 strata, with the lowest among Black or Brown men (no schooling or low income) and the highest among women and higher schooling or income. The intersectional analysis (n=2405) null model showed 24% between-strata variance; the full additive model reduced it to 1% (proportional change in variance=97%).

conclusionsIntersectional analysis reveals structural informational exclusion driven by additive disadvantages in schooling, income, and gender among participants, calling for digital inclusion policies, critical health literacy programs, and equitable multichannel communication strategies to address persistent COVID-19 information seeking disparities.

Indexed as

COVID-19Digital DivideIll-Housed PersonsUrban PopulationAdultBrazilCross-Sectional StudiesDigital MediaFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSocioeconomic Disparities in HealthSocioeconomic FactorsSurveys and QuestionnairesCOVID-19digital healthinformation-seeking behaviorinternetintersectionality

Identifiers

PMID41525683
PMCPMC12835838

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.