Self-Illusion And Medical Expertise In The Era Of Covid-19

The Dunning-Kruger premise assumes that unqualified people are unaware of their limited skills. We tested this hypothesis in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, 2487 participants had to self-estimate their knowledge about COVID-19 in a questionnaire on the topic. Poor performers were more likely to use mass media and social networks as sources of information and had lower levels of education. The mean self-assessment (SD) was 6.88 (2.06) and was not linked to actual level of knowledge. This observation should prompt regulatory agencies and media to apply rules that limit dis-semination of "infodemics" during global health crises.