Association of Public Interest in Preventive Measures and Increased COVID-19 Cases After the Expiration of Stay-at-Home Orders: A Cross-Sectional Study

Hartwell, Micah; Greiner, Ben; Kilburn, Zach; Ottwell, Ryan

doi:10.1017/dmp.2020.333

Cited by 12 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(14 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We observed similar results in the second PLifeCOVID-19 Study, in which higher percentage of respondents declared the introduction of supplementation with immune-related nutrients and compounds during the first wave of the pandemic (and lockdown), when COVID-19 cases and deaths in Poland were incomparably lower than in the second wave during autumn. Previous GT analysis and population-based studies revealed that the interests [ 48 , 49 , 50 ] and practices [ 51 ] of protective behaviors, such as hand washing or use of hand sanitizers increased after the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, undertaken of those health-protective behaviors was related to a variety of factors, including sociodemographic [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], psychological characteristic (e.g., emotion regulation [ 54 ]), perception of being at risk to get COVID-19 [ 54 ], media or social-media exposure and trust in information from media and other people (friends and bloggers) [ 53 , 55 , 56 ], and knowledge or beliefs about COVID-19 [ 53 ], however there is a limited number of studies comparing both waves of the pandemic [ 54 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary Supplements during COVID-19 Outbreak. Results of Google Trends Analysis Supported by PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The use of dietary supplements (DSs) has been steadily increasing all over the world and additionally, the sales of DSs have dynamical increased in the wake of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in most of the countries. We investigated DSs phenomenon in 2020 through (1) exploration of Google searches worldwide and in Poland (with Google Trends (GT) tool), and (2) analyses of results of PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies conducted during the first and second wave of the pandemic. The conducted GT analysis and cross-sectional studies revealed that during the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, the interest in immune-related compounds and foods like vitamins C and D, zinc, omega-3, garlic, ginger, or turmeric, as well as their consumption increased. Improving immunity was the main reason behind the supplementation and changes in consumption of pro-healthy foods. GT analysis has shown these interests were positively correlated with the interest in COVID-19, but adversely with cumulative cases or deaths. Respondents tended to start supplementation during the first COVID-19 wave rather than the second one. Except for the role of vitamins D and C, zinc, and selenium in patients with deficiencies of those nutrients, there are no clear and convincing studies that support the role of DSs use in COVID-19 prevention and treatment in healthy, well-nourished individuals. Moreover, as the risk of elevated intake of some nutrients due to the popularity of DSs exists, effective education of consumers in rationale use of DSs and health-protecting behaviors against COVID-19 should be developed.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary Supplements during COVID-19 Outbreak. Results of Google Trends Analysis Supported by PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The third, the country of study and the references. Category Proxy data type Country and reference Adoption of NPI Mobile phones and/or vehicles through location intelligence and measurement platforms USA [367] , [368] , [369] , [370] , [371] , [372] Twitter Twitter population [373] , [374] Wikipedia and Reddit Canada, Italy, USA, UK [375] Google USA [376] ; 130 countries [377] TV USA [378] Mobility changes Mobile phones and/or vehicles through location intelligence and measurement platforms USA [37] , [38] , [379] , [380] Facebook Italy [39] Citymapper app 22 countries [381] …”

Section: Measuring Npis Via Proxy Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we find articles aimed at quantifying the adoption of NPIs via proxy data such as mobile phones collected by location intelligence companies [367] , [368] , [369] , [370] , [371] , [372] , Twitter [373] , [374] , COVID-19 ad-hoc apps [196] , Wikipedia and Reddit [375] , Google [376] , [377] , and TV viewings [378] .…”

Section: Measuring Npis Via Proxy Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Authors of Ref. [376] study the association between NPIs related keywords on Google Trends and disease burden in each US state. Using a regression model they find that attention towards NPIs related keywords, measured using proxy queries in Google, is associated (0.42) with higher deaths per capita and case-fatality (0.60).…”

Section: Measuring Npis Via Proxy Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Infectious diseases and human behavior are intertwined. On one side, our movements and interactions are the engines of transmission. On the other, the unfolding of viruses might induce changes to our daily activities. While intuitive, our understanding of such feedback loop is still limited. Before COVID-19 the literature on the subject was mainly theoretical and largely missed validation. The main issue was the lack of empirical data capturing behavioral change induced by diseases. Things have dramatically changed in 2020. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been the key weapon against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and affected virtually any societal process. Travels bans, events cancellation, social distancing, curfews, and lockdowns have become unfortunately very familiar. The scale of the emergency, the ease of survey as well as crowdsourcing deployment guaranteed by the latest technology, several Data for Good programs developed by tech giants, major mobile phone providers, and other companies have allowed unprecedented access to data describing behavioral changes induced by the pandemic. Here, I review some of the vast literature written on the subject of NPIs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, I analyze 348 articles written by more than 2518 of authors in the first 12 months of the emergency. While the large majority of the sample was obtained by querying PubMed, it includes also a hand-curated list. Considering the focus, and methodology I have classified the sample into seven main categories: epidemic models, surveys, comments/perspectives, papers aiming to quantify the effects of NPIs, reviews, articles using data proxies to measure NPIs, and publicly available datasets describing NPIs. I summarize the methodology, data used, findings of the articles in each category and provide an outlook highlighting future challenges as well as opportunities.

show abstract

“…More recently and more specifically related to the COVID-19 vaccines, rumors that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility in women have circulated on social media [56]. Lastly, the politicization and polarization of news coverage surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic heavily influenced the public's attitude to COVID-19 response policies [55,[57][58][59][60]. Taken together, trouble with media outlets as trustworthy sources further supports the use of unbiased answer sources such as government agencies.…”

Section: Transparency and Quality Of The Answer Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Public’s Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines Using Search Engine Analytics in the United States: Observational Study

Sajjadi¹,

Shepard²,

Ottwell³

et al. 2021

JMIR Infodemiology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccines has offered the first means of long-term protection against COVID-19–related illness since the pandemic began. It is important for health care professionals to understand commonly held COVID-19 vaccine concerns and to be equipped with quality information that can be used to assist in medical decision-making. Objective Using Google’s RankBrain machine learning algorithm, we sought to characterize the content of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about COVID-19 vaccines evidenced by internet searches. Secondarily, we sought to examine the information transparency and quality of sources used by Google to answer FAQs on COVID-19 vaccines. Methods We searched COVID-19 vaccine terms on Google and used the “People also ask” box to obtain FAQs generated by Google’s machine learning algorithms. FAQs are assigned an “answer” source by Google. We extracted FAQs and answer sources related to COVID-19 vaccines. We used the Rothwell Classification of Questions to categorize questions on the basis of content. We classified answer sources as either academic, commercial, government, media outlet, or medical practice. We used the Journal of the American Medical Association’s (JAMA’s) benchmark criteria to assess information transparency and Brief DISCERN to assess information quality for answer sources. FAQ and answer source type frequencies were calculated. Chi-square tests were used to determine associations between information transparency by source type. One-way analysis of variance was used to assess differences in mean Brief DISCERN scores by source type. Results Our search yielded 28 unique FAQs about COVID-19 vaccines. Most COVID-19 vaccine–related FAQs were seeking factual information (22/28, 78.6%), specifically about safety and efficacy (9/22, 40.9%). The most common source type was media outlets (12/28, 42.9%), followed by government sources (11/28, 39.3%). Nineteen sources met 3 or more JAMA benchmark criteria with government sources as the majority (10/19, 52.6%). JAMA benchmark criteria performance did not significantly differ among source types (χ24=7.40; P=.12). One-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in mean Brief DISCERN scores by source type (F4,23=10.27; P<.001). Conclusions The most frequently asked COVID-19 vaccine–related questions pertained to vaccine safety and efficacy. We found that government sources provided the most transparent and highest-quality web-based COVID-19 vaccine–related information. Recognizing common questions and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines may assist in improving vaccination efforts.

show abstract

Association of Public Interest in Preventive Measures and Increased COVID-19 Cases After the Expiration of Stay-at-Home Orders: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 12 publications

References 12 publications

Dietary Supplements during COVID-19 Outbreak. Results of Google Trends Analysis Supported by PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies

Dietary Supplements during COVID-19 Outbreak. Results of Google Trends Analysis Supported by PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies

Non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review

Examining the Public’s Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines Using Search Engine Analytics in the United States: Observational Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About