Association Between X/Twitter and Prescribing Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Ecological Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social media has become a vital tool for health care providers to quickly share information. However, its lack of content curation and expertise poses risks of misinformation and premature dissemination of unvalidated data, potentially leading to widespread harmful effects due to the rapid and large-scale spread of incorrect information.

Objective

We aim to determine whether social media had an undue association with the prescribing behavior of hydroxychloroquine, using the COVID-19 pandemic as the setting.

Methods

In this retrospective study, we gathered the use of hydroxychloroquine in 48 hospitals in the United States between January and December 2020. Social media data from X/Twitter was collected using Brandwatch, a commercial aggregator with access to

SUBMITTER: Helgeson SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11612580 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature