Discussions and Misinformation About Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and COVID-19: Qualitative Analysis of Twitter Content

被引：7

作者：

Sidani, Jaime E. ^{[1
]}

Hoffman, Beth ^{[1
]}

Colditz, Jason B. ^{[2
]}

Wolynn, Riley ^{[3
]}

Hsiao, Lily ^{[3
]}

Chu, Kar-Hai ^{[1
]}

Rose, Jason J. ^{[4
]}

Shensa, Ariel ^{[5
]}

Davis, Esa ^{[2
]}

Primack, Brian ^{[6
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Pittsburgh, Ctr Social Dynam & Community Hlth, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Behav & Community Hlth Sci, 130 DeSoto St, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA

[2] Univ Pittsburgh, Sch Med, Div Gen Internal Med, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA

[3] Univ Pittsburgh, Kenneth P Dietrich Sch Arts & Sci, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA

[4] Univ Pittsburgh, Sch Med, Div Pulm Allergy & Crit Care Med, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA

[5] Duquesne Univ, John G Rangos Sr Sch Hlth Sci, Dept Hlth Adm & Publ Hlth, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 USA

[6] Univ Arkansas, Coll Educ & Hlth Profess, Fayetteville, AZ USA

来源：

JMIR FORMATIVE RESEARCH | 2022年 / 6卷 / 04期

关键词：

COVID-19; coronavirus; e-cigarette; electronic nicotine delivery systems; Twitter; social media; misinformation; discussion; public health; communication; concern; severity; conspiracy; PUBLIC-HEALTH; AGREEMENT; CIGARETTE;

D O I：

10.2196/26335

中图分类号：

R19 [保健组织与事业（卫生事业管理）];

学科分类号：

摘要：

Background: Misinformation and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are increasing. Some of this may stem from early reports suggesting a lower risk of severe COVID-19 in nicotine users. Additionally, a common conspiracy is that the e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) outbreak of 2019 was actually an early presentation of COVID-19. This may have important public health ramifications for both COVID-19 control and ENDS use. Objective: Twitter is an ideal tool for analyzing real-time public discussions related to both ENDS and COVID-19. This study seeks to collect and classify Twitter messages ("tweets") related to ENDS and COVID-19 to inform public health messaging. Methods: Approximately 2.1 million tweets matching ENDS-related keywords were collected from March 1, 2020, through June 30, 2020, and were then filtered for COVID-19-related keywords, resulting in 67,321 original tweets. A 5% (n=3366) subsample was obtained for human coding using a systematically developed codebook. Tweets were coded for relevance to the topic and four overarching categories. Results: A total of 1930 (57.3%) tweets were coded as relevant to the research topic. Half (n=1008, 52.2%) of these discussed a perceived association between ENDS use and COVID-19 susceptibility or severity, with 42.4% (n=818) suggesting that ENDS use is associated with worse COVID-19 symptoms. One-quarter (n=479, 24.8%) of tweets discussed the perceived similarity/dissimilarity of COVID-19 and EVALI, and 13.8% (n=266) discussed ENDS use behavior. Misinformation and conspiracy theories were present throughout all coding categories. Conclusions: Discussions about ENDS use and COVID-19 on Twitter frequently highlight concerns about the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 for ENDS users; however, many contain misinformation and conspiracy theories. Public health messaging should capitalize on these concerns and amplify accurate Twitter messaging.

引用

页数：9

共 36 条

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