Abstract
The aim of the present infodemiological study was to evaluate whether the COVID-19 outbreak has influenced the volume of content related to the dental treatment needs of Brazilian Twitter users to summarize the trends, and to identify the perceptions of the treatment needed. We collected tweets related to dental care needs of individuals exposed to the COVID-19 outbreak scenario between March 23 to May 4, 2020 and of those not exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic (unexposed group) on the same reported days of 2019 using the terms "dentista (dentist), dente (tooth), siso (third molar), and aparelho (orthodontic appliance)." Descriptive analysis was performed to provide summary statistics of the frequencies of tweets related to different dental treatment needs and also the differences in volume content between the years 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the data were analyzed by qualitative analysis using an inductive approach. A total of 1,763 tweets from 2020 and 1,339 tweets from 2019 were screened. Those tweets posted by non-Brazilian users, duplicates, and those unrelated to dental treatment needs were removed and, therefore 1,197 tweets from 2020 and 719 tweets from 2019 were selected. Content volume related to dental treatment needs greatly increased during the COVID-19 outbreak. Findings from the word cloud and content analysis suggest that dental pain, related or not to the third molar, and problems with orthodontic appliances were the topics most commonly related to dental treatment needs discussed during the COVID-19 outbreak, mainly conveying anxiety and distress. The volume of tweets related to dental treatment needs posted by Brazilian users increased during the COVID-19 outbreak and self-reported pain and urgencies were the most popular topics.
Highlights
Submitted: June 1, 2020 Accepted for publication: July 16, 2020 Last revision: July 31, 2020The first case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was recorded in Brazil on February 25, 2020,1 26 days after the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared that the COVID-19 outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.[2]
Findings from the word cloud and content analysis suggest that dental pain, related or not to the third molar, and problems with orthodontic appliances were the topics most commonly related to dental treatment needs discussed during the COVID-19 outbreak, mainly conveying anxiety and distress
This study aimed to evaluate whether the COVID-19 outbreak has influenced the content volume related to the dental treatment needs of Brazilian Twitter users so as to summarize the trends for treatment needs and to identify the users’ perception of their needs
Summary
Submitted: June 1, 2020 Accepted for publication: July 16, 2020 Last revision: July 31, 2020. The first case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was recorded in Brazil on February 25, 2020,1 26 days after the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared that the COVID-19 outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.[2] Brazil was in second place in the Worldometer ranking on May 24, 2020, presenting 349,113 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,461 tests per one million people. Was the world leader, presenting 1,666,828 confirmed cases and 43,404 tests per one million people.[3] Based on those numbers, WHO claimed that Latin America is currently the world’s pandemic epicenter and that Brazil is the most affected country as of the time of this writing (June 1, 2020).[4] findings from Imperial College London suggest that the rate of transmission is still above 1 in all states.[5]
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