Health Pandemic and Social Media: A Content Analysis of COVID-Related Posts on a Telegram Channel With More Than One Million Subscribers

BACKGROUND

Mobile-based social media play an important role in the dissemination of information during public health emergencies.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to analyze the contents and trends of public messages posted on Telegram during Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS

A content analysis of the 1781 messages, posted in a public Telegram channel with more than one million subscribers performed over 9-weeks. The messages were categorized into seven categories.

RESULTS

In total, 39% (n=703) of all messages were related to COVID-19. With the official confirmation of the case of COVID-19 in Iran, the number of COVID-related massages started to rise. Overall, the most frequent messages were of joke and humor (n=292, 41.5%), followed by educational messages (n=140, 19.9%).

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that the most popular messages during first weeks of COVID pandemic were satirical, indicating that people may not had taken the risks of this pandemic seriously. It is crucial for health organizations to develop strategies for dissemination of reliable health information through social media.

An Exploratory Study of Units of Reporting Opium Usein Iran: Implications for Epidemiologic Studies

BACKGROUND

Measuring the amount of opium use is a challenge in epidemiologic studies. Self-report of amount of opium use at each consumption, widely used in the literature, usually fails to provide a good estimate. The purpose of this study is to systematically study the perceived weight units of reported opium use in Iran, and compare them to the standardized units of weight measurement.

METHODS

An exploratory descriptive study was conducted in six major cities of Iran. Study participants were interviewed and asked to use a Play-Doh-like material to demonstrate the amount of opium they use. To obtain an estimate of the weight of the material used, we multiplied the volume by the density of the opium product. We experimentally determined the density of the commonly used opium products. We used medians and inter-quartile ranges (IQRs) to report the typical amount of each unit.

RESULTS

A total of 108 individuals participated in this study. The most frequently reported unit was "gram"; the median perceived weight for one gram (g) of opium was 0.24 (IQR: 0.16) g. The second most commonly used unit was nokhod with a median of 0.16 (IQR: 0.16) g, followed by mesghaal and hab/habeh, which were 1.28 (IQR: 0.81) and 0.16 (IQR: 0.16) g, respectively. The median perceived weight of mesghaal and gram in the studied cities was less than the expected standardized values.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the reported amount of opium use is highly inaccurate and unreliable, and is mainly subject to underestimation.