Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Infodemiology
Date Submitted: Mar 12, 2021
Date Accepted: Jun 20, 2021
Examining the Public’s Most Frequently Asked Questions Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines Using Search Engine Analytics in the United States
ABSTRACT
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 healthcare 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 COVID-19 vaccines FAQs.
Methods:
We searched COVID-19 vaccines 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 Rothwell’s Classification of Questions to categorize questions based on content. We classified answer sources as either Academic, Commercial, Government, Media Outlet, or Medical Practice. We used JAMA 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. A one-way ANOVA was used to assess for differences in Brief DISCERN score means by source type.
Results:
Our search yielded 28 unique FAQ’s about COVID-19 vaccines. Most COVID-19 vaccine FAQs were seeking factual information (22/28; 78.6%), specifically about Safety & Efficacy (9/22; 40.9%). The most common source type was Media Outlet (12/28;42.9%) followed by Government (11/28;39.3%). 19 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 between source types (X2 = 7.40; P =0.116). The ANOVA assessing mean differences in Brief DISCERN scores by source type was statistically significant (F=10.27; P<.0001).
Conclusions:
The most frequently asked COVID-19 vaccine questions pertained to vaccine safety and efficacy. We found that government sources provided the most transparent and highest quality online COVID-19 vaccine information. Recognizing common questions and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines may assist in improving vaccination efforts. Clinical Trial: NA
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