ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2020
COVID-19-Related Web Search Behaviors and Infodemic Attitudes in Italy: Infodemiological Study.
Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 107 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
107 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The experience of individuals placed in quarantine: A systematic review, meta-summary, and meta-synthesis.Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.) · 2021Pooled it
- Mapping the landscape of mental health research through Google Trends: Bibliometric and thematic insights.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Article
- Using Natural Language Processing to Explore Social Media Opinions on Food Security: Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Modeling the Impacts of Governmental and Human Responses on COVID-19 Spread Using Statistical Machine Learning.International journal of digital earth · 2024Article
- Social networks use in the context of Schizophrenia: a review of the literature.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- Potential and Limitations of ChatGPT 3.5 and 4.0 as a Source of COVID-19 Information: Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of Generative and Authoritative Information.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 Using Infoveillance, National Reporting Data, and Wastewater in Wales, United Kingdom: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR infodemiology · 2023Article
- COVID-19 infodemic and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic respiratory diseases: A multicentre, observational study.Journal of global health · 2023Observational
- Maximum generable interest: A universal standard for Google Trends search queries.Healthcare analytics (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Does seasonality affect snoring? A study based on international data from the past decade.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2023Article
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Editorial Boards of Global Health Journals.Asian bioethics review · 2023Article
- Racially minoritized people's experiences of racism during COVID-19 in Australia: A qualitative study.Australian and New Zealand journal of public health · 2023Article
- Oral Corticosteroid Abuse and Self-Prescription in Italy: A Perspective from Community Pharmacists and Sales Reports before and during the COVID-19 Era.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Related Early Google Search Behavior and Health Communication in the United States: Panel Data Analysis on Health Measures.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Latin American perceptions of fear and exaggeration transmitted by the media with regard to COVID-19: frequency and association with severe mental pathologies.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Article
- People behavioral during health information searching in COVID-19 era: a review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
- Psychological factors associated with vaccination hesitancy: an observational study of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a later phase of the pandemic in Italy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- COVID-19 Infodemic: A study on the Fragile Five countries.Journal of public affairs · 2022Article
- Infodemic Preparedness and COVID-19: Searching about Public Health and Social Measures Is Associated with Digital Health Literacy in University Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince the beginning of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, fake news and misleading information have circulated worldwide, which can profoundly affect public health communication.
objectiveWe investigated online search behavior related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the attitudes of "infodemic monikers" (ie, erroneous information that gives rise to interpretative mistakes, fake news, episodes of racism, etc) circulating in Italy.
methodsBy using Google Trends to explore the internet search activity related to COVID-19 from January to March 2020, article titles from the most read newspapers and government websites were mined to investigate the attitudes of infodemic monikers circulating across various regions and cities in Italy. Search volume values and average peak comparison (APC) values were used to analyze the results.
resultsKeywords such as "novel coronavirus," "China coronavirus," "COVID-19," "2019-nCOV," and "SARS-COV-2" were the top infodemic and scientific COVID-19 terms trending in Italy. The top five searches related to health were "face masks," "amuchina" (disinfectant), "symptoms of the novel coronavirus," "health bulletin," and "vaccines for coronavirus." The regions of Umbria and Basilicata recorded a high number of infodemic monikers (APC weighted total >140). Misinformation was widely circulated in the Campania region, and racism-related information was widespread in Umbria and Basilicata. These monikers were frequently searched (APC weighted total >100) in more than 10 major cities in Italy, including Rome.
conclusionsWe identified a growing regional and population-level interest in COVID-19 in Italy. The majority of searches were related to amuchina, face masks, health bulletins, and COVID-19 symptoms. Since a large number of infodemic monikers were observed across Italy, we recommend that health agencies use Google Trends to predict human behavior as well as to manage misinformation circulation in Italy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.