Impact of political partisanship on public interest in infection prevention measures in the United States: An infodemiological study.

ABSTRACT: There has been conflicting public messaging from government and state officials about recommended health behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined whether differences in political affiliation influences the public's interest in infection prevention measures in the United States. State-specific data on public search interest in four key infection prevention measures (Quarantine, Social distancing, Hand washing and Masks) were obtained from Google Trends for the period 1 January 2020 to 12 December 2020. Political affiliation was ascertained based on the 2020 U.S. Presidential election results and 2017 Cook Partisan Voting Index. Spearman's rank, partial correlation, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to compare political partisanship with public interest in infection

SUBMITTER: Williams CYK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8326196 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature