tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020 Apr 22. doi: 10.2196/19374. [Epub ahead of print]
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related web search behavior and infodemic attitude in Italy: Infodemiological study.
Rovetta A[SUP]1[/SUP], Bhagavathula AS[SUP]1[/SUP].
Author information
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Since the beginning of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, several fake news and misleading information are circulated all over the world, which can profoundly affect public health communication.
OBJECTIVE:
We investigated the online search queries behavior related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the attitude of infodemic monikers circulating in Italy.
METHODS:
By using Google Trends to explore the internet search activity related to COVID-19 from January to March 2020, titles of the articles of the most read newspapers, and government websites are mined to investigate the attitude of various infodemic monikers circulating across various regions and cities in Italy. Search volume values and average-peak value (APC) are used to quantify the results.
RESULTS:
Keywords such as "novel coronavirus", "china coronavirus", "covid-19", "2019-ncov", and "sars-cov-2" were the top infodemic and scientific COVID-19 denominations trends in Italy. Information related to face masks, amuchina (disinfectant), symptoms of the novel coronavirus, health bulletins, and vaccine for coronavirus were the top five searches related to health. The regions of Umbria and Basilicata recorded a high number of infodemic monikers (weight total APC >140). Misinformation was widely circulated in Campania region and racism related information in Umbria and Basilicata. These monikers were more frequently pronounced (weight total APC >100) in more than ten major cities in the Italy including Rome.
CONCLUSIONS:
We identified a growing regional and population-level interest in COVID-19 in Italy, and a majority of the searches are related to amuchina (disinfectants), face maks, health bulletin, and symptoms related to COVID-19. As a large number of infodemic monikers were observed across Italy, we recommend the health agencies can use Google Trends to predict the human behavior and also to exploit the misinformation circulating in Italy.
CLINICALTRIAL:
PMID:32338613DOI:10.2196/19374
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related web search behavior and infodemic attitude in Italy: Infodemiological study.
Rovetta A[SUP]1[/SUP], Bhagavathula AS[SUP]1[/SUP].
Author information
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Since the beginning of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, several fake news and misleading information are circulated all over the world, which can profoundly affect public health communication.
OBJECTIVE:
We investigated the online search queries behavior related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the attitude of infodemic monikers circulating in Italy.
METHODS:
By using Google Trends to explore the internet search activity related to COVID-19 from January to March 2020, titles of the articles of the most read newspapers, and government websites are mined to investigate the attitude of various infodemic monikers circulating across various regions and cities in Italy. Search volume values and average-peak value (APC) are used to quantify the results.
RESULTS:
Keywords such as "novel coronavirus", "china coronavirus", "covid-19", "2019-ncov", and "sars-cov-2" were the top infodemic and scientific COVID-19 denominations trends in Italy. Information related to face masks, amuchina (disinfectant), symptoms of the novel coronavirus, health bulletins, and vaccine for coronavirus were the top five searches related to health. The regions of Umbria and Basilicata recorded a high number of infodemic monikers (weight total APC >140). Misinformation was widely circulated in Campania region and racism related information in Umbria and Basilicata. These monikers were more frequently pronounced (weight total APC >100) in more than ten major cities in the Italy including Rome.
CONCLUSIONS:
We identified a growing regional and population-level interest in COVID-19 in Italy, and a majority of the searches are related to amuchina (disinfectants), face maks, health bulletin, and symptoms related to COVID-19. As a large number of infodemic monikers were observed across Italy, we recommend the health agencies can use Google Trends to predict the human behavior and also to exploit the misinformation circulating in Italy.
CLINICALTRIAL:
PMID:32338613DOI:10.2196/19374