Measuring Public Concern About COVID-19 in Japanese Internet Users Through Search Queries: Infodemiological Study   [open pdf - 729KB]

From the Introduction: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has been threatening global health since the end of December 2019. The outbreak has created critical challenges for public health, research, and medical communities [...]. As of July 12, 2021, COVID-19 has affected 220 countries and territories, with over 187 million confirmed cases, and has claimed over 4 million lives [...]. COVID-19 has also disrupted many lives and caused psychological trauma on a large scale [...]. As with any outbreak of an infectious disease, the population's psychological reactions play a critical role in shaping the spread of the disease and the occurrence of emotional distress and social disorder during and after the outbreak [...]. Recently, Ahorsu et al [...] developed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) by conducting qualitative interviews to assess individuals' fear of COVID-19. Gao et al [...] found that greater concern about COVID-19 (frequent exposure to COVID-19-related social media) was positively associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Furthermore, Su et al's [...] Twitter-based analysis revealed that spatial-temporal and socioeconomic disparities shaped US residents' response to COVID-19."