Teng Zuo , Lingfeng He , Yuan Zheng , Zezheng Lin , Zelin Xu , Ning Li
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Propagation index, spatiotemporal and network analysis were performed.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>A total of 236,775 posts were crawled, with 28,218 posts from 432 accounts filtered through a keyword search and 5825 out of 28,218 (20.6 %) posts from 287 out of 432 (66.4 %) accounts identified as COVID-19-related content. 640 out of 5825 (11.0 %) posts from 112 out of 287 (39.0 %) accounts were identified as misinformation and classified into 5 main types and 6 subtypes. Differences between internal and external accounts were reflected in the distribution of misinformation types. Propagators from various professions had different tendencies in terms of type, and several misinformation repropagation modes were observed. Social network analysis revealed strong correlations among propagators.</div></div><div><h3>Interpretation</h3><div>To our knowledge, this is the first mixed-methods study to examine the characteristics of medical practitioners as propagators in the infodemic in Chinese mainland. Our research suggested that Chinese medical practitioners significantly contributed to the COVID-19 infodemic in social media. This could exacerbate post-pandemic societal distrust in the medical system, potentially having far-reaching public health implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":"374 ","pages":"Article 118051"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Communication analysis of the COVID-19 infodemic by medical practitioners in China: A mixed methods study\",\"authors\":\"Teng Zuo , Lingfeng He , Yuan Zheng , Zezheng Lin , Zelin Xu , Ning Li\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118051\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The infodemic during the public health policy transformation in Chinese mainland is known; however, the contributions of medical practitioners have not been evaluated. This study aimed to estimate the role of medical practitioners during the COVID-19 infodemic in Chinese mainland and reveal content structure and spatiotemporal features.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Data from medical practitioner accounts with the highest influence were collected from Sina-Weibo. Original contents were collected from March 1st, 2022 to October 1st, 2023. Misinformation were identified based on cross-validated content analysis. Propagation index, spatiotemporal and network analysis were performed.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>A total of 236,775 posts were crawled, with 28,218 posts from 432 accounts filtered through a keyword search and 5825 out of 28,218 (20.6 %) posts from 287 out of 432 (66.4 %) accounts identified as COVID-19-related content. 640 out of 5825 (11.0 %) posts from 112 out of 287 (39.0 %) accounts were identified as misinformation and classified into 5 main types and 6 subtypes. Differences between internal and external accounts were reflected in the distribution of misinformation types. Propagators from various professions had different tendencies in terms of type, and several misinformation repropagation modes were observed. Social network analysis revealed strong correlations among propagators.</div></div><div><h3>Interpretation</h3><div>To our knowledge, this is the first mixed-methods study to examine the characteristics of medical practitioners as propagators in the infodemic in Chinese mainland. Our research suggested that Chinese medical practitioners significantly contributed to the COVID-19 infodemic in social media. This could exacerbate post-pandemic societal distrust in the medical system, potentially having far-reaching public health implications.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":49122,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Social Science & Medicine\",\"volume\":\"374 \",\"pages\":\"Article 118051\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":4.9000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-04-04\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Social Science & Medicine\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625003818\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Science & Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625003818","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
Communication analysis of the COVID-19 infodemic by medical practitioners in China: A mixed methods study
Background
The infodemic during the public health policy transformation in Chinese mainland is known; however, the contributions of medical practitioners have not been evaluated. This study aimed to estimate the role of medical practitioners during the COVID-19 infodemic in Chinese mainland and reveal content structure and spatiotemporal features.
Methods
Data from medical practitioner accounts with the highest influence were collected from Sina-Weibo. Original contents were collected from March 1st, 2022 to October 1st, 2023. Misinformation were identified based on cross-validated content analysis. Propagation index, spatiotemporal and network analysis were performed.
Findings
A total of 236,775 posts were crawled, with 28,218 posts from 432 accounts filtered through a keyword search and 5825 out of 28,218 (20.6 %) posts from 287 out of 432 (66.4 %) accounts identified as COVID-19-related content. 640 out of 5825 (11.0 %) posts from 112 out of 287 (39.0 %) accounts were identified as misinformation and classified into 5 main types and 6 subtypes. Differences between internal and external accounts were reflected in the distribution of misinformation types. Propagators from various professions had different tendencies in terms of type, and several misinformation repropagation modes were observed. Social network analysis revealed strong correlations among propagators.
Interpretation
To our knowledge, this is the first mixed-methods study to examine the characteristics of medical practitioners as propagators in the infodemic in Chinese mainland. Our research suggested that Chinese medical practitioners significantly contributed to the COVID-19 infodemic in social media. This could exacerbate post-pandemic societal distrust in the medical system, potentially having far-reaching public health implications.
期刊介绍:
Social Science & Medicine provides an international and interdisciplinary forum for the dissemination of social science research on health. We publish original research articles (both empirical and theoretical), reviews, position papers and commentaries on health issues, to inform current research, policy and practice in all areas of common interest to social scientists, health practitioners, and policy makers. The journal publishes material relevant to any aspect of health from a wide range of social science disciplines (anthropology, economics, epidemiology, geography, policy, psychology, and sociology), and material relevant to the social sciences from any of the professions concerned with physical and mental health, health care, clinical practice, and health policy and organization. We encourage material which is of general interest to an international readership.