Background During the Covid-19 pandemic fake news has been circulating impacting on the general population’s opinion about a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2. Health literacy measures the capacity of navigating health information. Methods We used data from a prospective national online cohort of 1647 participants. Descriptive statistics, Chi2 and ANOVA independence tests and two multivariable multinomial regression models were performed. Interactions between each variable were tested. Results Detection of fake news and health literacy scores were associated with intention to get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (p < 0.01). The risk of being “anti-vaccination” or “hesitant”, rather than “pro-vaccination”, was higher among individuals reporting bad detection of fake news, respectively OR = 1.93 (95%CI = [1.30;2.87]) and OR = 1.80 (95%CI = [1.29;2.52]). The risk of being in “hesitant”, rather than “pro-vaccination” was higher among individuals having a bad health literacy score (OR = 1.44; 95%CI = [1.04;2.00]). No interaction was found between detection of fake news and health literacy. Conclusions To promote acceptance of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, it is recommended to increase individuals’ ability to detect fake news and health literacy through education and communication programs.

ObjectivesTo estimate the effect of student status on mental health condition during COVID-19 general lockdown in France.DesignCross-sectional analysis comparing students and non-students recruited in the same study.SettingParticipants of the web-based CONFINS study implemented during the general lockdown in France in spring 2020.Participants2260 participants (78% women) including 1335 students (59%).Primary and secondary outcome measuresThrough an online questionnaire, participants declared if they have experienced suicidal thoughts, coded their perceived stress on a 10-points scale and completed validated mental health scales (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depressive symptoms, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 for anxiety symptoms) during the last 7 days. The effect of college student status on each mental health condition was estimated using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Stratified models for students and non-students were performed to identify population-specific factors.ResultsStudent status was associated with a higher frequency of depressive symptoms (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.58; 95% CI 1.17 to 2.14), anxiety symptoms (aOR=1.51; 95% CI 1.10 to 2.07), perceived stress (n=1919, aOR=1.70, 95% CI 1.26 to 2.29) and suicidal thoughts (n=1919, aOR=1.57, 95% CI 0.97 to 2.53). Lockdown conditions that could be potentially aggravating on mental health like isolation had a higher impact on students than on non-students.ConclusionsCollege students were at higher risk of mental health disturbances during lockdown than non-students, even after taking into account several potential confounding factors. A close follow-up and monitoring of students’ mental health status is warranted during lockdown periods in this vulnerable population.

The aim of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of novel human-machine interaction paradigms for eHealth applications. In particular, we propose to replace usual human-machine interaction mechanisms with an approach that leverages a chat-bot program, opportunely designed and trained in order to act and interact with patients as a human being. Moreover, we have validated the proposed interaction paradigm in a real clinical context, where the chat-bot has been employed within a medical decision support system having the goal of providing useful recommendations concerning several disease prevention pathways. More in details, the chat-bot has been realized to help patients in choosing the most proper disease prevention pathway by asking for different information (starting from a general level up to specific pathways questions) and to support the related prevention checkup and the final diagnosis. Preliminary experiments about the effectiveness of the proposed approach are reported.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous countries, including China and France, have implemented lockdown measures that have been effective in controlling the epidemic. However, little is known about the impact of these measures on the population as expressed on social media from different cultural contexts. Objective This study aims to assess and compare the evolution of the topics discussed on Chinese and French social media during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods We extracted posts containing COVID-19–related or lockdown-related keywords in the most commonly used microblogging social media platforms (ie, Weibo in China and Twitter in France) from 1 week before lockdown to the lifting of the lockdown. A topic model was applied independently for three periods (prelockdown, early lockdown, and mid to late lockdown) to assess the evolution of the topics discussed on Chinese and French social media. Results A total of 6395; 23,422; and 141,643 Chinese Weibo messages, and 34,327; 119,919; and 282,965 French tweets were extracted in the prelockdown, early lockdown, and mid to late lockdown periods, respectively, in China and France. Four categories of topics were discussed in a continuously evolving way in all three periods: epidemic news and everyday life, scientific information, public measures, and solidarity and encouragement. The most represented category over all periods in both countries was epidemic news and everyday life. Scientific information was far more discussed on Weibo than in French tweets. Misinformation circulated through social media in both countries; however, it was more concerned with the virus and epidemic in China, whereas it was more concerned with the lockdown measures in France. Regarding public measures, more criticisms were identified in French tweets than on Weibo. Advantages and data privacy concerns regarding tracing apps were also addressed in French tweets. All these differences were explained by the different uses of social media, the different timelines of the epidemic, and the different cultural contexts in these two countries. Conclusions This study is the first to compare the social media content in eastern and western countries during the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown. Using general COVID-19–related social media data, our results describe common and different public reactions, behaviors, and concerns in China and France, even covering the topics identified in prior studies focusing on specific interests. We believe our study can help characterize country-specific public needs and appropriately address them during an outbreak.

Background: Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences have raised fears of its psychological impact. The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of student status on mental health conditions during Covid-19 general lockdown among adults in France. Methods: Using cross-sectional data of the Confins cohort, we estimated the effect of student status on depressive and anxiety symptoms, suicidal thoughts and perceived stress using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Stratified models for college students and non-students were performed to identify associated population-specific factors. Results: Among the 2260 included participants, students represented 59% (n=1335 vs 925 non-students) and 78% of the total sample were female. Student status was more frequently associated with depressive symptoms (adjusted OR(aOR)=1.58; 95%CI 1.17;2.14), anxiety symptoms (aOR=1.51; 95%CI 1.10;2.07), perceived stress (n=1919, aOR=1.70, 95%CI 1.26;2.29) and frequent suicidal thoughts (n=1919, aOR=1.57, 95%CI 0.97;2.53). Lockdown conditions that could be potentially aggravating on mental health like isolation had a higher impact on students than non-students. Limitations: Participants were volunteers, which could limit generalisation of the findings. The cross-sectional design did not allow determining if lockdown impacted directly mental health or if there is another cause. However, we adjusted analyses with the history of psychiatric disorders, and factors related to lockdown conditions were associated with mental health disturbances. Conclusions: College student's mental health is of great importance in the context of the general lockdown set up during the pandemic. Follow-up and interventions should be implemented especially for those at high-risk (younger people and those with history of psychiatric disorders).