Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37564881›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in digital health2023

An investigation of media reports of digital surveillance within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leigha Comer, Lorie Donelle, Marionette Ngole, Jacob J Shelley, Anita Kothari, Maxwell Smith, James M Shelley, Saverio Stranges, Brad Hiebert, Jason Gilliland and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in digital health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Leigha ComerArthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Lorie DonelleArthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Marionette NgoleArthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Jacob J ShelleyWestern Law, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Anita KothariSchool of Health Studies, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Maxwell SmithSchool of Health Studies, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
James M ShelleyFaculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Saverio StrangesDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Brad HiebertArthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Jason GillilandDepartment of Geography and Environment, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Jacquelyn BurkellFaculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Tommy CookeSurveillance Studies Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Jodi HallSchool of Nursing, Fanshawe College, London, ON, Canada.
Jed LongDepartment of Geography and Environment, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Western University · CAFanshawe College · CAQueen's University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a surge in digital public health surveillance worldwide, with limited opportunities to consider the effectiveness or impact of digital surveillance. The news media shape public understanding of topics of importance, contributing to our perception of priority issues. This study investigated news media reports published during the first year of the pandemic to understand how the use and consequences of digital surveillance technologies were reported on. Methods: A media content analysis of 34 high- to low-income countries was completed. The terms "COVID-19," "surveillance," "technologies," and "public health" were used to retrieve and inductively code media reports. Results: Of the 1,001 reports, most were web-based or newspaper sources on the development and deployment of technologies directed at contact tracing, enforcing quarantine, predicting disease spread, and allocating resources. Technology types included mobile apps, wearable devices, "smart" thermometers, GPS/Bluetooth, facial recognition, and security cameras. Repurposed data from social media, travel cards/passports, and consumer purchases also provided surveillance insight. Media reports focused on factors impacting surveillance success (public participation and data validity) and the emerging consequences of digital surveillance on human rights, function creep, data security, and trust. Discussion: Diverse digital technologies were developed and used for public health surveillance during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of these technologies and witnessed or anticipated consequences were reported by a variety of media sources worldwide. The news media are an important public health information resource, as media outlets contribute to directing public understanding and shaping priority public health surveillance issues. Our findings raise important questions around how journalists decide which aspects of public health crises to report on and how these issues are discussed.

Indexed as

COVID-19digital healthdigital surveillancemass mediapandemicpublic healthtechnology

Identifiers

PMID37564881
PMCPMC10411532
OpenAlexW4385248145

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.