Currently submitted to: JMIR Preprints
Date Submitted: Oct 10, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Oct 10, 2022 - Sep 25, 2023
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Myocarditis Infodemic During COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Italy: Longitudinal Study Through Google Trends
ABSTRACT
Background:
As of September 2022, a wave of dismisinformation is sweeping Italy regarding the risk of COVID-19 vaccine myocarditis. No studies on this phenomenon have been conducted to date.
Objective:
Estimate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the amount of health information and dismisinformation – in the form of exaggerated risk perception – relating to COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis in Italy.
Methods:
Google Trends was adopted to investigate users' web interest in health issues, anxiety, and relationships between COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines, myocarditis, and heart disease. The survey was longitudinal retrospective. Quantitative analysis and semantic evaluations of queries were employed.
Results:
The COVID-19 crisis has led to an average increase of 23% in demand for health information online compared to previous years (95%CI: [20, +inf[, S-value>10). The web interest in myocarditis increased by 800% (95%CI: [600, +inf[, S>10) and was causally correlated to COVID-19 vaccines (R=0.72, 95%CI: [0.49, 0.89], S>10). The percentage of related infodemic queries varied between 3 and 30%, depending on the region. Web interest in myocarditis exceeded that in heart disease by 170% (95% CI: [130, +inf[, S>10). Web interest in anxiety increased by 26% (95% CI: [20, + inf[, S>10), but no evident causal relationship could be established.
Conclusions:
COVID-19 has caused a sharp increase in health-related web queries in Italy. Web interest in myocarditis risk was unjustifiably greater towards COVID-19 vaccines than COVID-19, other major risk factors, and ischemic heart disease (the principal cause of death in the country). We also report an increased interest in anxiety, an important cardiovascular determinant. Therefore, an infodemiological intervention by the authorities is urgently required. We also recommend establishing a school program to build resilience against dismisinformation and information management capacity in citizens.
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