OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore public sentiments and emotions toward the LSSR and identify issues, fear, and reluctance to observe this restriction among the Indonesian public.
METHODS: This study adopts a sentiment analysis method with a supervised machine learning approach on COVID-19-related posts on selected media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube). The analysis was also performed on COVID-19-related news contained in more than 500 online news platforms recognized by the Indonesian Press Council. Social media posts and news originating from Indonesian online media between March 31 and May 31, 2020, were analyzed. Emotion analysis on Twitter platform was also performed to identify collective public emotions toward the LSSR.
RESULTS: The study found that positive sentiment surpasses other sentiment categories by 51.84% (n=1,002,947) of the total data (N=1,934,596) collected via the search engine. Negative sentiment was recorded at 35.51% (686,892/1,934,596) and neutral sentiment at 12.65% (244,757/1,934,596). The analysis of Twitter posts also showed that the majority of public have the emotion of "trust" toward the LSSR.
CONCLUSIONS: Public sentiment toward the LSSR appeared to be positive despite doubts on government consistency in executing the LSSR. The emotion analysis also concluded that the majority of people believe in LSSR as the best method to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. Overall, Indonesians showed trust and expressed hope toward the government's ability to manage this current global health crisis and win against COVID-19.
OBJECTIVE: This study examines the sources of information for COVID-19 used by the Malaysian public and identifies those that are associated with building public confidence and positive perceptions toward the Malaysian government.
METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey of 4850 Malaysian residents was conducted. Participant demographics, media use, information sources, and attitudes surrounding COVID-19 were assessed. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to gauge the relationship between demographics, information sources, and attitudes toward COVID-19.
RESULTS: Malaysians primarily used television and internet news portals to access information on COVID-19. The Malaysian Ministry of Health was the most preferred source of COVID-19 information. Respondents who referred to the Ministry of Health, television, and the Malaysian National Security Council for information were more likely to believe that the country could win the battle against COVID-19 and that the government was handling the health crisis well compared to those who referred to other information sources. Those who used the World Health Organization, friends, YouTube, family, and radio as sources of information were less likely to harbor confidence and positive belief toward combating COVID-19.
CONCLUSIONS: Managing information and sustaining public confidence is important during a pandemic. Health authorities should pay considerable attention to the use of appropriate media channels and sources to allow for more effective dissemination of critical information to the public.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to synthesize current literature on digital solutions for CVD prevention, identify the key components of effective digital interventions, and highlight critical research gaps to inform the development of sustainable strategies for CVD prevention.
METHODS: Following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive search in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed to identify original English-language studies published between January 2000 and May 2024 that examined primary or secondary CVD prevention through digital solutions. The exclusion criteria included: telephone-only interventions, abstract-only publications, methodology-focused studies without primary data, studies without participants or specific groups, and studies with no follow-up period. The literature search used the string with terms like "digital health," "mHealth," "mobile health," "text message," "short message service," "SMS," "prevention," "prevent," "cardiovascular disease," "CVD," etc. Study bias was assessed using the RoB 2 (Cochrane Collaboration) and the ROBINS-I tool (Cochrane Collaboration). Data on prevention components, prevention types, study design, population, intervention, follow-up duration, personnel, and delivery settings were extracted.
RESULTS: A total of 2871 studies were identified through the search. After excluding ineligible studies, 30 studies remained, including 24 randomized controlled trials. The reviewed digital solutions for CVD prevention focused on baseline assessment (29/30, 97%), physical activity counseling (18/30, 60%), tobacco cessation (14/30, 47%), blood pressure management (13/30, 43%), and medication adherence (10/30, 33%). The technologies used were categorized into 3 types, smartphones and wearables (16/30, 53%), email and SMS communications (12/30, 40%), and websites or web portals (3/30, 10%). The majority of the study outcomes addressed blood pressure (14/30, 47%), exercise capacity (12/30, 40%), weight (12/30, 40%), and lipid profile (11/30, 37%), while fewer focused on nicotine dependence (9/30, 30%), medication use (8/30, 27%), quality of life (7/30, 23%), dietary habits (5/30, 17%), intervention adherence (4/30, 13%), waist circumference (4/30, 13%), and blood glucose levels (2/30, 7%).
CONCLUSIONS: Digital solutions can address challenges in traditional CVD prevention by improving preventive behaviors and monitoring health indicators. However, most evaluated interventions have focused on medication use, quality of life, dietary habits, adherence, and waist circumference. Further studies are needed to assess the long-term impact of more comprehensive interventions on key cardiovascular outcomes.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out from 30 June to 30 August 2021 involving 775 respondents. The survey instrument for the questionnaire was an adaptation from various different studies consisting of five main variables: (1) misinformation about vaccination; (2) risk perception toward COVID-19; (3) attitudes toward the vaccination programme; (4) intention to get vaccinated; and (5) public confidence in the government in executing the vaccination programme.
RESULTS: The results of this study indicate that higher exposure to misinformation led to higher levels of negative attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine. When the perceived risk of COVID-19 infection was high, mistrust of vaccine benefits was low but there were also higher worries about the future effects of the vaccine. Confidence in the government was associated with lower negative attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study may help develop an understanding of negative attitudes toward vaccinations in Malaysia and its contributing factors.
Objective: The World Health Organization organized the first global infodemiology conference, entirely online, during June and July 2020, with a follow-up process from August to October 2020, to review current multidisciplinary evidence, interventions, and practices that can be applied to the COVID-19 infodemic response. This resulted in the creation of a public health research agenda for managing infodemics.
Methods: As part of the conference, a structured expert judgment synthesis method was used to formulate a public health research agenda. A total of 110 participants represented diverse scientific disciplines from over 35 countries and global public health implementing partners. The conference used a laddered discussion sprint methodology by rotating participant teams, and a managed follow-up process was used to assemble a research agenda based on the discussion and structured expert feedback. This resulted in a five-workstream frame of the research agenda for infodemic management and 166 suggested research questions. The participants then ranked the questions for feasibility and expected public health impact. The expert consensus was summarized in a public health research agenda that included a list of priority research questions.
Results: The public health research agenda for infodemic management has five workstreams: (1) measuring and continuously monitoring the impact of infodemics during health emergencies; (2) detecting signals and understanding the spread and risk of infodemics; (3) responding and deploying interventions that mitigate and protect against infodemics and their harmful effects; (4) evaluating infodemic interventions and strengthening the resilience of individuals and communities to infodemics; and (5) promoting the development, adaptation, and application of interventions and toolkits for infodemic management. Each workstream identifies research questions and highlights 49 high priority research questions.
Conclusions: Public health authorities need to develop, validate, implement, and adapt tools and interventions for managing infodemics in acute public health events in ways that are appropriate for their countries and contexts. Infodemiology provides a scientific foundation to make this possible. This research agenda proposes a structured framework for targeted investment for the scientific community, policy makers, implementing organizations, and other stakeholders to consider.