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Broniatowski DA, Kerchner D, Farooq F, Huang X, Jamison AM, Dredze M, Quinn SC, Ayers JW. Correction: Twitter and Facebook posts about COVID-19 are less likely to spread misinformation compared to other health topics. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0298907. [PMID: 38346059 PMCID: PMC10861040 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261768.].
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Faviez C, Talmatkadi M, Foulquié P, Mebarki A, Schück S, Burgun A, Chen X. Assessment of the Early Detection of Anosmia and Ageusia Symptoms in COVID-19 on Twitter: Retrospective Study. JMIR INFODEMIOLOGY 2023; 3:e41863. [PMID: 37643302 PMCID: PMC10521907 DOI: 10.2196/41863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, social media has been extensively used to amplify the spread of information and to express personal health-related experiences regarding symptoms, including anosmia and ageusia, 2 symptoms that have been reported later than other symptoms. OBJECTIVE Our objective is to investigate to what extent Twitter users reported anosmia and ageusia symptoms in their tweets and if they connected them to COVID-19, to evaluate whether these symptoms could have been identified as COVID-19 symptoms earlier using Twitter rather than the official notice. METHODS We collected French tweets posted between January 1, 2020, and March 31, 2020, containing anosmia- or ageusia-related keywords. Symptoms were detected using fuzzy matching. The analysis consisted of 3 parts. First, we compared the coverage of anosmia and ageusia symptoms in Twitter and in traditional media to determine if the association between COVID-19 and anosmia or ageusia could have been identified earlier through Twitter. Second, we conducted a manual analysis of anosmia- and ageusia-related tweets to obtain quantitative and qualitative insights regarding their nature and to assess when the first associations between COVID-19 and these symptoms were established. We randomly annotated tweets from 2 periods: the early stage and the rapid spread stage of the epidemic. For each tweet, each symptom was annotated regarding 3 modalities: symptom (yes or no), associated with COVID-19 (yes, no, or unknown), and whether it was experienced by someone (yes, no, or unknown). Third, to evaluate if there was a global increase of tweets mentioning anosmia or ageusia in early 2020, corresponding to the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, we compared the tweets reporting experienced anosmia or ageusia between the first periods of 2019 and 2020. RESULTS In total, 832 (respectively 12,544) tweets containing anosmia (respectively ageusia) related keywords were extracted over the analysis period in 2020. The comparison to traditional media showed a strong correlation without any lag, which suggests an important reactivity of Twitter but no earlier detection on Twitter. The annotation of tweets from 2020 showed that tweets correlating anosmia or ageusia with COVID-19 could be found a few days before the official announcement. However, no association could be found during the first stage of the pandemic. Information about the temporality of symptoms and the psychological impact of these symptoms could be found in the tweets. The comparison between early 2020 and early 2019 showed no difference regarding the volumes of tweets. CONCLUSIONS Based on our analysis of French tweets, associations between COVID-19 and anosmia or ageusia by web users could have been found on Twitter just a few days before the official announcement but not during the early stage of the pandemic. Patients share qualitative information on Twitter regarding anosmia or ageusia symptoms that could be of interest for future analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carole Faviez
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) UMR 1138, Paris, France
- Health Data- and Model- Driven Knowledge Acquisition (HeKA), Inria Paris, Paris, France
| | | | | | | | | | - Anita Burgun
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) UMR 1138, Paris, France
- Health Data- and Model- Driven Knowledge Acquisition (HeKA), Inria Paris, Paris, France
- Department of Medical Informatics, Hôpital Necker-Enfant Malades, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Paris, France
| | - Xiaoyi Chen
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) UMR 1138, Paris, France
- Health Data- and Model- Driven Knowledge Acquisition (HeKA), Inria Paris, Paris, France
- Data Science Platform, Imagine Institute, Université Paris Cité, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) UMR 1163, Paris, France
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Broniatowski DA, Simons JR, Gu J, Jamison AM, Abroms LC. The efficacy of Facebook's vaccine misinformation policies and architecture during the COVID-19 pandemic. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh2132. [PMID: 37713497 PMCID: PMC11044214 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh2132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Online misinformation promotes distrust in science, undermines public health, and may drive civil unrest. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, Facebook-the world's largest social media company-began to remove vaccine misinformation as a matter of policy. We evaluated the efficacy of these policies using a comparative interrupted time-series design. We found that Facebook removed some antivaccine content, but we did not observe decreases in overall engagement with antivaccine content. Provaccine content was also removed, and antivaccine content became more misinformative, more politically polarized, and more likely to be seen in users' newsfeeds. We explain these findings as a consequence of Facebook's system architecture, which provides substantial flexibility to motivated users who wish to disseminate misinformation through multiple channels. Facebook's architecture may therefore afford antivaccine content producers several means to circumvent the intent of misinformation removal policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A. Broniatowski
- Department of Engineering Management and Systems
Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
- Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics, The
George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Joseph R. Simons
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial
Resources, United States Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20543,
USA
| | - Jiayan Gu
- Department of Prevention and Community Health, The
George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Amelia M. Jamison
- Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Lorien C. Abroms
- Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics, The
George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
- Department of Prevention and Community Health, The
George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
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Lin H, Lasser J, Lewandowsky S, Cole R, Gully A, Rand DG, Pennycook G. High level of correspondence across different news domain quality rating sets. PNAS NEXUS 2023; 2:pgad286. [PMID: 37719749 PMCID: PMC10500312 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023]
Abstract
One widely used approach for quantifying misinformation consumption and sharing is to evaluate the quality of the news domains that a user interacts with. However, different media organizations and fact-checkers have produced different sets of news domain quality ratings, raising questions about the reliability of these ratings. In this study, we compared six sets of expert ratings and found that they generally correlated highly with one another. We then created a comprehensive set of domain ratings for use by the research community (github.com/hauselin/domain-quality-ratings), leveraging an ensemble "wisdom of experts" approach. To do so, we performed imputation together with principal component analysis to generate a set of aggregate ratings. The resulting rating set comprises 11,520 domains-the most extensive coverage to date-and correlates well with other rating sets that have more limited coverage. Together, these results suggest that experts generally agree on the relative quality of news domains, and the aggregate ratings that we generate offer a powerful research tool for evaluating the quality of news consumed or shared and the efficacy of misinformation interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hause Lin
- Hill/Levene Schools of Business, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada
- Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 100 Main St, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Uris Hall, 211, Tower Rd, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Jana Lasser
- Institute for Interactive Systems and Data Science, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16C, 8010 Graz, Austria
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Josefstädterstraße 39, 1080 Vienna, Austria
| | - Stephan Lewandowsky
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, 12a, Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Rocky Cole
- Jigsaw (Google LLC), 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
| | - Andrew Gully
- Jigsaw (Google LLC), 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
| | - David G Rand
- Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 100 Main St, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 43 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Gordon Pennycook
- Hill/Levene Schools of Business, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Uris Hall, 211, Tower Rd, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
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Smail EJ, Livingston T, Wolach A, Cenko E, Kaufmann CN, Manini TM. Media Consumption and COVID-19-Related Precautionary Behaviors During the Early Pandemic: Survey Study of Older Adults. JMIR Form Res 2023; 7:e46230. [PMID: 37213166 DOI: 10.2196/46230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the COVID-19 pandemic, media sources dedicated significant time and resources to improve knowledge of COVID-19 precautionary behaviors (eg, wearing a mask). Many older adults report using the television, radio, print newspapers, or web-based sources to get information on political news, yet little is known about whether consuming news in the early phase of the pandemic led to behavior change, particularly in older adults. OBJECTIVE The goals of this study were to determine (1) whether dosage of news consumption on the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with COVID-19 precautionary behaviors; (2) whether being an ever-user of social media was associated with engagement in COVID-19 precautionary behaviors; and (3) among social media users, whether change in social media use during the early stages of the pandemic was associated with engagement in COVID-19 precautionary behaviors. METHODS Data were obtained from a University of Florida-administered study conducted in May and June of 2020. Linear regression models were used to assess the association between traditional news and social media use on COVID-19 precautionary behaviors (eg, mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing behaviors). Analyses were adjusted for demographic characteristics, including age, sex, marital status, and education level. RESULTS In a sample of 1082 older adults (mean age 73, IQR 68-78 years; 615/1082, 56.8% female), reporting 0 and <1 hour per day of media consumption, relative to >3 hours per day, was associated with lower engagement in COVID-19 precautionary behaviors in models adjusted for demographic characteristics (β=-2.00; P<.001 and β=-.41; P=.01, respectively). In addition, increasing social media use (relative to unchanged use) was associated with engagement in more COVID-19 precautionary behaviors (β=.70, P<.001). No associations were found between being an ever-user of social media and engaging in COVID-19 precautionary behaviors. CONCLUSIONS The results demonstrated an association between higher media consumption and greater engagement in COVID-19 precautionary behaviors in older adults. These findings suggest that media can be effectively used as a public health tool for communication of prevention strategies and best practices during future health threats, even among populations who are historically less engaged in certain types of media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Smail
- Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Torie Livingston
- Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Adam Wolach
- Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Erta Cenko
- Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Christopher N Kaufmann
- Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Todd M Manini
- Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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Toledo-Ortiz R, González-Rojas JM, Molina-Vallejo LE, Mendoza-Velásquez JJ, Romero-Casillas Y, Cano-Collado LA, de la Rosa-Cruz SA, Juárez-Medel CA, González-Bonilla CR. [Development of the INSABI educational strategy: a lesson learned from the COVID-19 epidemic]. REVISTA MEDICA DEL INSTITUTO MEXICANO DEL SEGURO SOCIAL 2023; 61:386-398. [PMID: 37216695 PMCID: PMC10437235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The Institute for Health for Well-being (INSABI according to its initials in Spanish), in collaboration with the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán (INCMNSZ), instituted the Continuous Training on clinical management "Mexico against COVID-19" in 2020, with the purpose of training the frontline health personnel in the care for patients with COVID-19 in the context of hospital reconversion through the COVIDUTI platform. Virtual conferences were held for medical personnel from all over the country with the possibility of interacting with various specialists. In 2020, 215 sessions were held and 158 in 2021. That year educational content was expanded and included topics for other health categories, such as nursing and social work. In October 2021, it was established the Health Educational System for Well-being (SIESABI), with the aim of promoting continuous and permanent education for health workers. It currently offers face-to-face and virtual courses, permanent seminars, and telementoring, with the possibility of providing academic follow-up to its subscribers and linking priority courses that are on other platforms. The educational platform is an opportunity to unify the efforts of the health system in Mexico in the continuous and permanent education of professionals who care for people without social security and thereby contribute to the implementation of a model of care based on primary health care (PHC).
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosbel Toledo-Ortiz
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - Jessica Margarita González-Rojas
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - Luis Enrique Molina-Vallejo
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - José Javier Mendoza-Velásquez
- Comisión Nacional contra las Adicciones, Coordinación de Estrategias Nacionales. Ciudad de México, MéxicoComisión Nacional contra las AdiccionesMéxico
| | - Yesenia Romero-Casillas
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - Luz Alejandra Cano-Collado
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - Sergio Aarón de la Rosa-Cruz
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - Carlos Alberto Juárez-Medel
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
| | - César Raúl González-Bonilla
- Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar, Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Personal de Salud, Unidad de Coordinación Nacional Médica. Acapulco, Guerrero, MéxicoInstituto de Salud para el BienestarMéxico
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Miller CA, Schroeder MW, Guidry JP, Fuemmeler BF, Pagoto S. Older adults' exposure to and posting of health-related messages on Facebook by chronic health condition status. Digit Health 2023; 9:20552076231203799. [PMID: 37808240 PMCID: PMC10559694 DOI: 10.1177/20552076231203799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective Older adults may be particularly interested in health-related content on Facebook, especially those who have chronic health conditions. The purpose of this study was to compare older adult Facebook users with and without a chronic health condition on their frequency of posting and exposure to health-related content. Methods Participants, recruited via Qualtrics, were regular Facebook users aged 50 + years. Participants were asked separately if they had seen, posted, and shared: Health-related information; about others'/their own health behaviors (e.g., exercise); and about others'/their own medical condition. Six logistic regression models, controlling for demographics and Facebook login frequency, were run to assess whether viewing and/or posting health-related messages differed by chronic health condition status. Results Respondents (N = 697; 77.9% female) were on average 61.2 (SD = 7.9) years old and (n = 625; 89.7%) were White. One-half reported a chronic health condition (n = 351; 50.4%). In adjusted models, those with a chronic health condition had a higher likelihood of seeing posts containing health information (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.93) and about others' medical conditions (OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.27) at least once a month compared to those with no chronic health conditions. People with and without chronic health conditions did not differ in terms of how often they see others' post about health behaviors. Those with a chronic health condition had a higher likelihood of posting or sharing health information (OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.27), posting about their own health behaviors (OR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.44; p = 0.048), and about their health condition (OR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.17, 3.27) at least once a month. Conclusion Most older adults on Facebook are exposed to and post multiple forms of health-related content. Therefore, Facebook may be an appropriate channel for conducting health-related communication targeting older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie A. Miller
- Family Medicine and Population Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
- Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Matthew W. Schroeder
- Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Jeanine P.D. Guidry
- Robertson School of Media and Culture, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Bernard F. Fuemmeler
- Family Medicine and Population Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
- Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Sherry Pagoto
- Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
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Yussof I, Ab Muin NF, Mohd M, Hatah E, Mohd Tahir NA, Mohamed Shah N. Breast cancer prevention and treatment misinformation on Twitter: An analysis of two languages. Digit Health 2023; 9:20552076231205742. [PMID: 37808244 PMCID: PMC10559708 DOI: 10.1177/20552076231205742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective To determine the prevalence and types of misinformation on Twitter related to breast cancer prevention and treatment; and compare the differences between the misinformation in English and Malay tweets. Methods A total of 6221 tweets related to breast cancer posted between 2018 and 2022 were collected. An oncologist and two pharmacists coded the tweets to differentiate between true information and misinformation, and to analyse the misinformation content. Binary logistic regression was conducted to identify determinants of misinformation. Results There were 780 tweets related to breast cancer prevention and treatment, and 456 (58.5%) contain misinformation, with significantly more misinformation in Malay compared to English tweets (OR = 6.18, 95% CI: 3.45-11.07, p < 0.001). Other determinants of misinformation were tweets posted by product sellers and posted before the COVID-19 pandemic. Less misinformation was associated with tweets utilising official/peer-reviewed sources of information compared to tweets without external sources and those that utilised less reliable information sources. The top three most common content of misinformation were food and lifestyle, alternative medicine and supplements, comprising exaggerated claims of anti-cancer properties of traditional and natural-based products. Conclusion Misinformation on breast cancer prevention and treatment is prevalent on social media, with significantly more misinformation in Malay compared to English tweets. Our results highlighted that patients need to be educated on digital health literacy, with emphasis on utilising reliable sources of information and being cautious of any promotional materials that may contain misleading information. More studies need to be conducted in other languages to address the disparity in misinformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Izzati Yussof
- Centre for Quality Management of Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Nur Fa’izah Ab Muin
- Oncology and Radiotherapy Department, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Cheras, Malaysia
| | - Masnizah Mohd
- Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Ernieda Hatah
- Centre for Quality Management of Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Nor Asyikin Mohd Tahir
- Centre for Quality Management of Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Noraida Mohamed Shah
- Centre for Quality Management of Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Semaan J, Farah C, Harb RA, Bardus M, Germani A, Elhajj IH. Tackling the COVID-19 infodemic among Syrian refugees in Lebanon: Development and evaluation of the "Wikaytek" tool. Digit Health 2023; 9:20552076231205280. [PMID: 37915792 PMCID: PMC10617281 DOI: 10.1177/20552076231205280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective The COVID-19 infodemic has been a global public health challenge, especially affecting vulnerable populations such as Syrian refugees with limited internet access and functional, health, digital, and media literacies. To address this problem, we developed Wikaytek, a software to diffuse reliable COVID-19 information using WhatsApp, the preferred communication channel among Syrian refugees. In this paper, we describe the systematic development of the tool. Methods We undertook a pilot study guided by the Humanitarian Engineering Initiative (HEI)'s user-centered design framework, comprising five stages: (a) user research, including needs assessment and desk review of interventions with target users; (b) concept design based on platform and source selection, message format, concept testing, and architecture design; (c) prototyping and implementation, encompassing software development and system operation; (d) user testing (alpha and beta); and (e) evaluation through software analytics and user interviews. We reported a qualitative process evaluation. Results Wikaytek scrapes validated and reliable COVID-19-related information from reputable sources on Twitter, automatically translates it into Arabic, attaches relevant media (images/video), and generates an audio format using Google text-to-speech. Then, messages are broadcast to WhatsApp. Our evaluation shows that users appreciate receiving "push" information from reliable sources they can trust and prefer the audio format over text. Conclusions Wikaytek is a useful and well-received software for diffusing credible information on COVID-19 among Syrian refugees with limited literacy, as it complements the texts with audio messages. The tool can be adapted to diffuse messages about other public health issues among vulnerable communities, extending its scope and reach in humanitarian settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliette Semaan
- Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences and Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Christopher Farah
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA), American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Reem Abou Harb
- Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences and Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
- Department of Health Promotion and Community Health (HPCH), Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Marco Bardus
- Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences and Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
- Department of Health Promotion and Community Health (HPCH), Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
- Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK
| | - Aline Germani
- Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences and Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
- Center for Public Health Practice, Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Imad H Elhajj
- Humanitarian Engineering Initiative, Faculty of Health Sciences and Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA), American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
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Höhn S, Dozières-Puyravel B, Auvin S. Expectations of patient associations from a French Center for Rare Epilepsies. Epilepsy Behav 2022; 136:108927. [PMID: 36215829 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Rare epilepsy centers, also called reference centers in France, have the mission to coordinate care for rare diseases, improve knowledge, and conduct research on rare diseases. Dissemination of knowledge is conducted in collaboration with patient associations. In just a few years, the Internet and social media have become the main source for news and knowledge. We conducted a survey about the use of social media and the expectations of patient associations from a rare epilepsy center. From the 29 associations on our website, 18 (62%) answered the survey, representing about 9000 members. All of the patient associations use social media. Facebook is used by all of them, and most of them also used additional social media channels. 13/18 (72%) associations found that it was easy to get in touch with our center and almost all partner associations were satisfied with the information published on our website (17/18, 94%). Eight patient associations (8/15, 53%) expected more information from us regarding scientific news (10/13) and clinical trials (8/13). Despite the existence of an active website and a monthly newsletter, the family associations interacting with our rare epilepsy center still want to collaborate even more with us. The use of social media by the rare epilepsy centers might help to fill the gap of the knowledge dissemination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Höhn
- AP-HP, Pediatric Neurology Department, Reference Center for Rare Epilepsies, Member of ERN EpiCARE, Hôpital Robert-Debré, Paris, France
| | - Blandine Dozières-Puyravel
- AP-HP, Pediatric Neurology Department, Reference Center for Rare Epilepsies, Member of ERN EpiCARE, Hôpital Robert-Debré, Paris, France
| | - Stéphane Auvin
- AP-HP, Pediatric Neurology Department, Reference Center for Rare Epilepsies, Member of ERN EpiCARE, Hôpital Robert-Debré, Paris, France; Université Paris-Cité, INSERM NeuroDiderot, Paris, France; Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France.
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11
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Enders AM, Uscinski J, Klofstad C, Stoler J. On the relationship between conspiracy theory beliefs, misinformation, and vaccine hesitancy. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0276082. [PMID: 36288357 PMCID: PMC9604946 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
At the time of writing, nearly one hundred published studies demonstrate that beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and misinformation are negatively associated with COVID-19 preventive behaviors. These correlational findings are often interpreted as evidence that beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation are exogenous factors that shape human behavior, such as forgoing vaccination. This interpretation has motivated researchers to develop methods for "prebunking," "debunking," or otherwise limiting the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation online. However, the robust literatures on conspiracy theory beliefs, health behaviors, and media effects lead us to question whether beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation should be treated as exogenous to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Employing U.S. survey data (n = 2,065) from July 2021, we show that beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and misinformation are not only related to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal, but also strongly associated with the same psychological, social, and political motivations theorized to drive COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal. These findings suggest that beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation might not always be an exogenous cause, but rather a manifestation of the same factors that lead to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. We conclude by encouraging researchers to carefully consider modeling choices and imploring practitioners to refocus on the worldviews, personality traits, and political orientations that underlie both health-related behaviors and beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam M. Enders
- Department of Political Science, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, United States of America
| | - Joseph Uscinski
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America
| | - Casey Klofstad
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America
| | - Justin Stoler
- Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America
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12
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Uscinski J, Enders AM, Klofstad C, Stoler J. Cause and effect: On the antecedents and consequences of conspiracy theory beliefs. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 47:101364. [PMID: 35728357 PMCID: PMC9547178 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Since 2008, hundreds of studies have been published about conspiracy theories, many of which were in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. These studies are often motivated by concerns about the influence of exposure to conspiracy theories on beliefs, and the impact of conspiracy theory beliefs on behaviors. Numerous studies identify supportive correlations, concluding implicitly or explicitly that exposure causes belief and that beliefs subsequently cause behavior. We argue that while these causal relationships may exist, such conclusions currently lack robust evidence. We present an alternative model of the relationship between exposure, beliefs, and behaviors that accounts for other potentially causal factors and pathways. We encourage further work into the causal effects of exposure to, and beliefs in, conspiracy theories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Uscinski
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Blvd., Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA.
| | - Adam M Enders
- Department of Political Science, University of Louisville, Ford Hall 105, Louisville, KY, 40208, USA
| | - Casey Klofstad
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Blvd., Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA
| | - Justin Stoler
- Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of Miami, 1300 Campo Sano Blvd., Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA
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13
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Uscinski J, Enders A, Klofstad C, Seelig M, Drochon H, Premaratne K, Murthi M. Have beliefs in conspiracy theories increased over time? PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270429. [PMID: 35857743 PMCID: PMC9299316 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The public is convinced that beliefs in conspiracy theories are increasing, and many scholars, journalists, and policymakers agree. Given the associations between conspiracy theories and many non-normative tendencies, lawmakers have called for policies to address these increases. However, little evidence has been provided to demonstrate that beliefs in conspiracy theories have, in fact, increased over time. We address this evidentiary gap. Study 1 investigates change in the proportion of Americans believing 46 conspiracy theories; our observations in some instances span half a century. Study 2 examines change in the proportion of individuals across six European countries believing six conspiracy theories. Study 3 traces beliefs about which groups are conspiring against “us,” while Study 4 tracks generalized conspiracy thinking in the U.S. from 2012 to 2021. In no instance do we observe systematic evidence for an increase in conspiracism, however operationalized. We discuss the theoretical and policy implications of our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Uscinski
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Adam Enders
- Department of Political Science, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States of America
| | - Casey Klofstad
- Department of Political Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States of America
| | - Michelle Seelig
- Department of Cinema and Interactive Media, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States of America
| | - Hugo Drochon
- School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Kamal Premaratne
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States of America
| | - Manohar Murthi
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States of America
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14
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Albalawi Y, Nikolov NS, Buckley J. Pretrained Transformer Language Models Versus Pretrained Word Embeddings for the Detection of Accurate Health Information on Arabic Social Media: Comparative Study. JMIR Form Res 2022; 6:e34834. [PMID: 35767322 PMCID: PMC9280463 DOI: 10.2196/34834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Background In recent years, social media has become a major channel for health-related information in Saudi Arabia. Prior health informatics studies have suggested that a large proportion of health-related posts on social media are inaccurate. Given the subject matter and the scale of dissemination of such information, it is important to be able to automatically discriminate between accurate and inaccurate health-related posts in Arabic. Objective The first aim of this study is to generate a data set of generic health-related tweets in Arabic, labeled as either accurate or inaccurate health information. The second aim is to leverage this data set to train a state-of-the-art deep learning model for detecting the accuracy of health-related tweets in Arabic. In particular, this study aims to train and compare the performance of multiple deep learning models that use pretrained word embeddings and transformer language models. Methods We used 900 health-related tweets from a previously published data set extracted between July 15, 2019, and August 31, 2019. Furthermore, we applied a pretrained model to extract an additional 900 health-related tweets from a second data set collected specifically for this study between March 1, 2019, and April 15, 2019. The 1800 tweets were labeled by 2 physicians as accurate, inaccurate, or unsure. The physicians agreed on 43.3% (779/1800) of tweets, which were thus labeled as accurate or inaccurate. A total of 9 variations of the pretrained transformer language models were then trained and validated on 79.9% (623/779 tweets) of the data set and tested on 20% (156/779 tweets) of the data set. For comparison, we also trained a bidirectional long short-term memory model with 7 different pretrained word embeddings as the input layer on the same data set. The models were compared in terms of their accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and macroaverage of the F1 score. Results We constructed a data set of labeled tweets, 38% (296/779) of which were labeled as inaccurate health information, and 62% (483/779) of which were labeled as accurate health information. We suggest that this was highly efficacious as we did not include any tweets in which the physician annotators were unsure or in disagreement. Among the investigated deep learning models, the Transformer-based Model for Arabic Language Understanding version 0.2 (AraBERTv0.2)-large model was the most accurate, with an F1 score of 87%, followed by AraBERT version 2–large and AraBERTv0.2-base. Conclusions Our results indicate that the pretrained language model AraBERTv0.2 is the best model for classifying tweets as carrying either inaccurate or accurate health information. Future studies should consider applying ensemble learning to combine the best models as it may produce better results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yahya Albalawi
- Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, College of Arts and Science, University of Taibah, Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia
- The Irish Software Research Centre, Lero, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Nikola S Nikolov
- Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - Jim Buckley
- Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
- The Irish Software Research Centre, Lero, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
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15
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Greer J, Fitzgerald K, Vijaykumar S. Narrative elaboration makes misinformation and corrective information regarding COVID-19 more believable. BMC Res Notes 2022; 15:235. [PMID: 35765114 PMCID: PMC9241297 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-022-06134-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE People gather information about health topics from online channels oftentimes awash with misinformation. Investigating this problem during the COVID-19 pandemic is important, as the misinformation effect occurs when misleading details are embedded in narratives and questions. This pilot study investigated whether narrative elaboration increases believability in misinformation statements about COVID-19, and willingness to share these statements online. RESULTS Results from our online survey (n = 80) demonstrated that narrative elaboration increased believability in both misinformation and accurate statements, with a more pronounced effect on younger adults. Future research may investigate cognitive vulnerabilities imposed by elaborate narratives embedded in online health misinformation with increased attention on developing misinformation resilience among younger adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Greer
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
| | - Kaitlyn Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Santosh Vijaykumar
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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16
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Pierri F, Perry BL, DeVerna MR, Yang KC, Flammini A, Menczer F, Bryden J. Online misinformation is linked to early COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and refusal. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5966. [PMID: 35474313 PMCID: PMC9043199 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10070-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Widespread uptake of vaccines is necessary to achieve herd immunity. However, uptake rates have varied across U.S. states during the first six months of the COVID-19 vaccination program. Misbeliefs may play an important role in vaccine hesitancy, and there is a need to understand relationships between misinformation, beliefs, behaviors, and health outcomes. Here we investigate the extent to which COVID-19 vaccination rates and vaccine hesitancy are associated with levels of online misinformation about vaccines. We also look for evidence of directionality from online misinformation to vaccine hesitancy. We find a negative relationship between misinformation and vaccination uptake rates. Online misinformation is also correlated with vaccine hesitancy rates taken from survey data. Associations between vaccine outcomes and misinformation remain significant when accounting for political as well as demographic and socioeconomic factors. While vaccine hesitancy is strongly associated with Republican vote share, we observe that the effect of online misinformation on hesitancy is strongest across Democratic rather than Republican counties. Granger causality analysis shows evidence for a directional relationship from online misinformation to vaccine hesitancy. Our results support a need for interventions that address misbeliefs, allowing individuals to make better-informed health decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Pierri
- Dipartimento Di Elettronica, Informazione E Bioingegneria, Politecnico Di Milano, Milano, Italy.
- Observatory On Social Media, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
| | - Brea L Perry
- Department of Sociology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Matthew R DeVerna
- Observatory On Social Media, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Kai-Cheng Yang
- Observatory On Social Media, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | | | - Filippo Menczer
- Observatory On Social Media, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - John Bryden
- Observatory On Social Media, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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