Explore the vast range of titles available.

Public health systems need to be able to detect and respond to infodemics (outbreaks of misinformation, disinformation, information overload, or information voids). Drawing from our experience at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 State of Vaccine Confidence Insight Reporting System has been created as one of the first public health infodemic surveillance systems. Key functions of infodemic surveillance systems include monitoring the information environment by person, place, and time; identifying infodemic events with digital analytics; conducting offline community-based assessments; and generating timely routine reports. Although specific considerations of several system attributes of infodemic surveillance system must be considered, infodemic surveillance systems share several similarities with traditional public health surveillance systems. Because both information and pathogens are spread more readily in an increasingly hyperconnected world, sustainable and routine systems must be created to ensure that timely interventions can be deployed for both epidemic and infodemic response.

Around one-third of Americans reported they were unwilling to get a COVID-19 vaccine in April 2021. This focus group study aimed to provide insights on the factors contributing to unvaccinated adults' hesitancy or refusal to get vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines. Ipsos recruited 59 unvaccinated US adults who were vaccine hesitant (i.e., conflicted about or opposed to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination) using the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. Trained facilitators led a total of 10 focus groups via video-conference in March and April 2021. Two coders manually coded the data from each group using a coding frame based on the focus group discussion guide. The coding team collaborated in analyzing the data for key themes. Data analysis of transcripts from the focus groups illuminated four main themes associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: lack of trust in experts and institutions; concern about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines; resistance towards prescriptive guidance and restrictions; and, despite personal reluctance or unwillingness to get vaccinated, acceptance of others getting vaccinated. Vaccine confidence communication strategies should address individual concerns, describe the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, and highlight evolving science using factural and neutral presentations of information to foster trust.

The spread of misinformation on social media poses significant risks to public health and individual decision-making. Despite growing recognition of these threats, instruments that assess resilience to misinformation on social media, particularly among families who are central to making decisions on behalf of children, remain scarce. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a novel instrument that measures resilience to misinformation in the context of social media among parents of school-age children. The development process followed a multistep approach, including item generation based on relevant frameworks, expert review for content validation, and field testing. The psychometric properties were assessed using data from 511 Portuguese parents (418/511, 82.6% women; mean age 41.2, SD 6.1 y). The dataset was randomly divided into 2 subsamples. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted with the first subsample, followed by confirmatory factor analysis with the second subsample. The internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach α and McDonald ω. On the basis of the findings from the literature review, an initial pool of 18 items was created to reflect key dimensions of resilience to misinformation. Following expert review, the items were refined to a 15-item scale, which was disseminated for pilot and preliminary testing. A 14-item instrument emerged with a 2-factor structure: (1) stress resistance and resilience to misinformation (5 items) and (2) self-control regarding misinformation (9 items). The confirmatory factor analysis supported the model's fit, and both factors demonstrated acceptable reliability (Cronbach α=0.73; McDonald ω=0.69). The resilience to misinformation on social media instrument demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties and offers valuable insight into how parents engage with and respond to web-based misinformation. This tool may support public health efforts by identifying vulnerable populations and informing the development of targeted strategies to enhance resilience to misinformation within family contexts.

The digital information environment poses challenges for pregnant women and other people seeking care, as well as for their midwives and other health care professionals (HCPs). They can encounter questions, concerns, information gaps, and misinformation, which can influence health care decisions. This scoping review examines how HCPs are affected by the modern digital information environment including health misinformation, its effects on the women and people they care for, and its implications for care provision. English-language peer-reviewed literature, published from January 1, 2020, to May 31, 2024, with keywords related to midwifery, misinformation, and health equity collected and analyzed by a team of midwives and maternal care professionals and mapped onto a patient-centered conceptual model. A total of 105 studies were ultimately included. Further, 95 papers identified specific digital information environment issues that affected clients; 58 specifically highlighted digital information environment issues impacting HCPs; 91 papers identified specific topics of common questions, concerns, misinformation, information voids, or narratives; 57 papers identified patient or population vulnerability; and 75 included mentions of solutions or recommendations for addressing a digital information environment issue around clients seeking care from midwives and other HCPs. When mapped onto the Journey to Health model, the most prominent barrier was access to care and information. Individual-level issues dominate the step related to knowledge, awareness, and belief, with more social norms and wider engagement appearing at steps related to intent. Client-specific themes dominate the left-hand side of the model and provider-specific issues dominate the right-hand side of the model. Misinformation, information voids, unaddressed questions and concerns, and lack of access to high-quality health information are worldwide prevalent barriers that affect both patients and HCPs. We identified individual, provider-level, health systems, and societal-level strategies that can be used to promote healthier digital information environments.

Since April 19, 2021, all persons aged ≥16 years in the United States have been eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. As of May 30, 2021, approximately one half of U.S. adults were fully vaccinated, with the lowest coverage and lowest reported intent to get vaccinated among young adults aged 18-39 years (1-4). To examine attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and vaccination intent among adults in this age group, CDC conducted nationally representative household panel surveys during March-May 2021. Among respondents aged 18-39 years, 34.0% reported having received a COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 51.8% were already vaccinated or definitely planned to get vaccinated, 23.2% reported that they probably were going to get vaccinated or were unsure about getting vaccinated, and 24.9% reported that they probably or definitely would not get vaccinated. Adults aged 18-24 years were least likely to report having received a COVID-19 vaccine and were most likely to report being unsure about getting vaccinated or that they were probably going to get vaccinated. Adults aged 18-39 years with lower incomes, with lower educational attainment, without health insurance, who were non-Hispanic Black, and who lived outside of metropolitan areas had the lowest reported vaccination coverage and intent to get vaccinated. Concerns about vaccine safety and effectiveness were the primary reported reasons for not getting vaccinated. Vaccination intent and acceptance among adults aged 18-39 years might be increased by improving confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy while emphasizing that vaccines are critical to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to friends and family and for resuming social activities (5).Since April 19, 2021, all persons aged ≥16 years in the United States have been eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. As of May 30, 2021, approximately one half of U.S. adults were fully vaccinated, with the lowest coverage and lowest reported intent to get vaccinated among young adults aged 18-39 years (1-4). To examine attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and vaccination intent among adults in this age group, CDC conducted nationally representative household panel surveys during March-May 2021. Among respondents aged 18-39 years, 34.0% reported having received a COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 51.8% were already vaccinated or definitely planned to get vaccinated, 23.2% reported that they probably were going to get vaccinated or were unsure about getting vaccinated, and 24.9% reported that they probably or definitely would not get vaccinated. Adults aged 18-24 years were least likely to report having received a COVID-19 vaccine and were most likely to report being unsure about getting vaccinated or that they were probably going to get vaccinated. Adults aged 18-39 years with lower incomes, with lower educational attainment, without health insurance, who were non-Hispanic Black, and who lived outside of metropolitan areas had the lowest reported vaccination coverage and intent to get vaccinated. Concerns about vaccine safety and effectiveness were the primary reported reasons for not getting vaccinated. Vaccination intent and acceptance among adults aged 18-39 years might be increased by improving confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy while emphasizing that vaccines are critical to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to friends and family and for resuming social activities (5).

Facial somatosensory feedback is critical for breastfeeding in the first days of life. However, its development has never been investigated in humans. Here we develop a new interface to measure facial somatosensation in newborn infants. The novel system allows to measure neuronal responses to touching the face of the subject by synchronously recording scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and the force applied by the experimenter. This is based on a dedicated force transducer that can be worn on the finger underneath a clinical nitrile glove and linked to a commercial EEG acquisition system. The calibrated device measures the pressure applied by the investigator when tapping the skin concurrently with the resulting brain response. With this system, we were able to demonstrate that taps of 192 mN (mean) reliably elicited facial somatosensory responses in 7 pre-term infants. These responses had a time course similar to those following limbs stimulation, but more lateral topographical distribution consistent with body representations in primary somatosensory areas. The method introduced can therefore be used to reliably measure facial somatosensory responses in vulnerable infants.

Gentle rocking movements provided by a moving bed have been proposed as a promising non-pharmacological way to promote sleep. In rodents the sleep promoting effect of rocking movements depended on the peak acceleration (named \"stimulation intensity\") perceived by the vestibular system. We set out to verify previous reports on the sleep promoting effect of rocking movements and to investigate the importance of stimulation intensity in this process. Side-to-side rocking movements along a pendulum trajectory with different peak accelerations (control: 0 m/s , low intensity: 0.15 m/s , medium intensity: 0.25 m/s , high intensity: 0.35 m/s ) were provided for 45 min during an afternoon nap opportunity. Participants were assigned to a low intensity group ( = 10) experiencing control, low and medium intensity stimulation or a high intensity group ( = 12) experiencing control, medium and high intensity stimulation. Sleep and sleep-related memory performance were assessed using polysomnography and a word-pair memory task, respectively. Participants transitioned faster into deep sleep under the influence of medium intensity rocking as was evident by a faster buildup of delta power compared to the control condition ( = 22). The faster buildup did not affect sleep architecture, since e.g., the proportion of the nap spent in deep sleep or latencies did not change. Previously reported effects like a shorter latency to stage N2 and a higher density of sleep spindles were not observed. Sleep quality during control naps of the low intensity group was worse than in the high intensity group. In the low intensity group, we also observed a significant increase in delta power throughout the nap, as well as a higher density of slow oscillations both under the influence of low and medium intensity vestibular stimulation. No such effects were observed in the high intensity group. Rocking movements may promote nap sleep in young adults. Due to a difference in sleep quality during control naps between the low and high intensity group no conclusion regarding the influence of stimulation intensity were possible. Thus, optimal stimulation settings in humans need further investigation.

To respond to the need to establish infodemic management functions at the national public health institute in Germany (Robert Koch Institute, RKI), we explored and assessed available data sources, developed a social listening and integrated analysis framework, and defined when infodemic management functions should be activated during emergencies. We aimed to establish a framework for social listening and integrated analysis for public health in the German context using international examples and technical guidance documents for infodemic management. This study completed the following objectives: identified (potentially) available data sources for social listening and integrated analysis; assessed these data sources for their suitability and usefulness for integrated analysis in addition to an assessment of their risk using the RKI's standardized data protection requirements; developed a framework and workflow to combine social listening and integrated analysis to report back actionable infodemic insights for public health communications by the RKI and stakeholders; and defined criteria for activating integrated analysis structures in the context of a specific health event or health emergency. We included and classified 38% (16/42) of the identified and assessed data sources for social listening and integrated analysis at the RKI into 3 categories: social media and web-based listening data, RKI-specific data, and infodemic insights. Most data sources can be analyzed weekly to detect current trends and narratives and to inform a timely response by reporting insights that include a risk assessment and scalar judgments of different narratives and themes. This study identified, assessed, and prioritized a wide range of data sources for social listening and integrated analysis to report actionable infodemic insights, ensuring a valuable first step in establishing and operationalizing infodemic management at the RKI. This case study also serves as a roadmap for others. Ultimately, once operational, these activities will inform better and targeted public health communication at the RKI and beyond.

ABSTRACT Objectives Bruxism is a parafunctional orofacial behavior. For diagnosis, wearable devices that use sounds as biomarkers can be applied to provide the necessary information. Human beings emit various verbal and nonverbal sounds, making it challenging to identify bruxism‐induced sounds. We wanted to investigate whether the acoustic emissions of different oral behaviors have distinctive characteristics and if the placement of the transducer has an impact on recording the sound signals. Material and Methods Sounds from five oral behaviors were investigated: jaw clenching, teeth grinding, reading, eating, and drinking. Eight transducers were used; six were attached to the temporal, frontal, and zygomatic bones with the aid of medical tape, and two were integrated into two commercial earphones. The data from 15 participants were analyzed using time‐domain energy, spectral flux, and zero crossing rate (ZCR). Results In summary, all oral behaviors showed distinct characteristic features except jaw clenching, though there was a peak in the recording, possibly due to tooth tapping, before its expected onset. For teeth grinding, the transducer placement did not have a significant impact (p > 0.05) based on energy, spectral flux, and ZCR. For jaw clenching, the transducer placement had an impact with regard to spectral flux (p < 0.01). For reading and eating, the transducer placement had a significant impact with regard to energy (p < 0.05 for reading, p < 0.01 for eating), spectral flux (p < 0.001 for reading, p < 0.01 for eating), and ZCR (p < 0.001 for both reading and eating). For drinking, the transducer placement only had a significant impact with regard to ZCR (p < 0.01). Conclusions We were able to record the sounds of various oral behaviors from different locations on the head. However, the ears were an advantageous location to place the transducer, since they could compensate for various head movements and ear devices are socially tolerable.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of infodemic management has grown in response to urgent global need. Social listening is the first step in managing the infodemic, and many organizations and health systems have implemented processes. Social media analysis tools have traditionally been developed for commercial purposes, rather than public health, and little is known of the experiences and needs of those professionals using them for infodemic management. Methods We developed a cross sectional survey and distributed through global infodemic management networks between December 2022 and February 2023. Questions were structured over four sections related to work-practice and user needs and did not collect any personal details from participants. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the study results. Qualitative analysis was used to categorise and understand answers to open-text questions. Results There were 417 participants, 162/417 who completed all survey questions, and 255/417 who completed some, all responses are included in analysis. Respondents came from all global regions and a variety of workplaces. Participants had an average of 4.4 years’ experience in the analysis of social media for public health. COVID-19 was the most common health issue people had conducted social media analysis for. Results reveal a range of training, technical capacity, and support needs. Conclusions This paper is the first we are aware of to seek and describe the needs of those using social media analysis platforms for public health purposes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are key areas for future work and research, including addressing the training, capacity building and leadership needs of those working in this space, and the need to facilitate easier access to better platforms for performing social media analysis.