TY - JOUR
T1 - Tweeting the #flushot: Beliefs, barriers, and perceived threats during different periods of the 2018-2019 flu season
T2 - Beliefs, Barriers, and Threats During Different Periods of the 2018 to 2019 Flu Season
AU - Guidry, Jeanine
AU - Austin, Lucinda
AU - O'Donnell, Nicole
AU - Coman, Ioana
AU - Lovari, Alessandro
AU - Messner, Marcus
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Influenza epidemics happen every year, with more than 8 million severe cases in 2017. The most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza is vaccination. In recent years, misinformation regarding vaccines abounds on social media, but the flu vaccine is relatively understudied in this area, and the current study is the first 1 to explore the content and nature of influenza information that is shared on Twitter, comparing tweets published in the early flu season with those posted in peak flu season. Using a quantitative content analysis, 1000 tweets from both parts of the flu season were analyzed for use of Health Belief Model (HBM) variables, engagement, and flu vaccine specific variables. Findings show several promising opportunities for health organizations and professionals: HBM constructs were present more frequently than in previous, related studies, and fewer vaccine-hesitant tweets appear to be present. However, the presence of high barriers to flu vaccine uptake increased significantly from early to peak season, including an increase in the mention of conspiracy theories. Flu vaccine related tweets appear to vary in misinformation level and density throughout the flu season. While this should be confirmed by further studies over multiple flu seasons, this a finding that should be considered by public health organizations when developing flu vaccine campaigns on social media.
AB - Influenza epidemics happen every year, with more than 8 million severe cases in 2017. The most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza is vaccination. In recent years, misinformation regarding vaccines abounds on social media, but the flu vaccine is relatively understudied in this area, and the current study is the first 1 to explore the content and nature of influenza information that is shared on Twitter, comparing tweets published in the early flu season with those posted in peak flu season. Using a quantitative content analysis, 1000 tweets from both parts of the flu season were analyzed for use of Health Belief Model (HBM) variables, engagement, and flu vaccine specific variables. Findings show several promising opportunities for health organizations and professionals: HBM constructs were present more frequently than in previous, related studies, and fewer vaccine-hesitant tweets appear to be present. However, the presence of high barriers to flu vaccine uptake increased significantly from early to peak season, including an increase in the mention of conspiracy theories. Flu vaccine related tweets appear to vary in misinformation level and density throughout the flu season. While this should be confirmed by further studies over multiple flu seasons, this a finding that should be considered by public health organizations when developing flu vaccine campaigns on social media.
KW - attitudes
KW - health knowledge
KW - human
KW - influenza
KW - influenza vaccines
KW - practices
KW - prevention
KW - social media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85093858698&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2150132720932722
DO - 10.1177/2150132720932722
M3 - Article
C2 - 33089738
SN - 2150-1319
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
JF - Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
ER -