Online News Coverage of COVID-19 Long Haul Symptoms.

A number of the people who have recovered from the acute effects of COVID-19 are facing long term sequelae from the infection. As the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving, so is knowledge of the long-term effects of the virus on patients who still experience symptoms. Clearly, news media play a crucial role in distributing information and this distribution of information can, in turn, influence the actions of the public. The purpose of this study was to describe the content of news coverage of COVID-19 long haul symptoms currently posted on the internet. This study utilized Google News, a news aggregator service, and included the first 100 English language pieces of news. Video content and news article content were coded in depth for information on COVID-19 long haul symptoms. A total of 41% of news reports mentioned the length of time that the COVID-19 related symptoms persist. The length of time was reported to range from 1 month to more than 1 year. The symptom most commonly mentioned was tiredness or fatigue (74%), followed by difficulty breathing or shortness of breath (62 cases; 62%), and difficulty thinking or concentrating (50 cases; 50%). Other symptoms were mentioned less frequently. There were no statistically significant differences in any of the content including having video, written news reports, or both video and written news reports by source of the news reports based on consumer, professional, or television or internet-based news (p = .14). More complete coverage by online news media of the long-term effects of COVID-19 enhances public awareness of the post-acute syndromes, augments health providers' awareness of the range of chronic COVID-19 effects and the possibility of a second infection, increases the probability of patients' seeking and obtaining the proper care for their symptoms, and contributes to preventive actions for enhancing public health.

Long Haul COVID-19 Videos on YouTube: Implications for Health Communication.

The term COVID-19 "long haul" originated on social media and was later studied by the scientific community. This study describes content related to persistent COVID-19 symptoms on YouTube. The 100 most viewed English-language videos identified with the keywords "COVID-19 long haul" were assessed for video origin, engagement, and content related to COVID-19 long-haul. The findings indicate that the majority of videos were uploaded by television or internet news (56%), followed by consumers (members of the public, 32%), health professionals (only 9%), and lastly by entertainment TV (non-news programs, 3%). Videos originating from entertainment TV were significantly more likely to be "liked" than videos from other sources. The most commonly mentioned long-haul symptoms in the videos were physical (fatigue, 73%; difficulty breathing/shortness of breath, 56%; and joint or muscle pain, 49%) and cognitive (difficulty thinking or concentrating; 69%). The case of COVID-19 long haul demonstrates that social media are significant fora whereon the public identify health concerns. It is necessary for healthcare professionals to assume an active and responsible role in social media.

The impact of COVID-19 outbreak on individuals with Alzheimer’s disease: Information released through online news

Background Total confirmed cases for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been increased quickly worldwide after the emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of January 21, 2021, the total confirmed coronavirus cases are 97,736,758 worldwide with 25,124,602 in the United States (Worldometer). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer?s disease (AD) and Parkinson?s disease (PD) had been growing rapidly rendering them major threats to human health. COVID-19 impacted health care for persons with neurodegenerative diseases. This study reviews current research findings and their online news coverage related to the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on persons with Alzheimer?s Disease (PWAD) in the 10 months from April 2020 to January 2021 and available resources for caregivers and PWAD. Method We searched ?COVID-19 Alzheimer?s Disease? in Google News and obtained the URLs of all online news reports from April 1st 2020 to January 15, 2021 for data analysis. The news stories were: a. in English language, b. non-duplicate, and c. applicable to Alzheimer?s disease occurrence or symptoms related to COVID-19 positive cases. The content of the selected new stories is being analyzed for references to: 1. Upload date of news report;2. Country in which the patients in the report are located;3. Hospital or University names/studies;4. Journal or source of the information that is being reported;5. Alzheimer?s disease signs / symptoms;6. Physical/ medical comorbidities;7. Comorbidities / associated neuropsychiatric problems mentioned;8. Alzheimer?s disease management issues;9. Age of patients. Result The study is in progress. We are currently collecting news stories and are analyzing the data. Conclusion This study will provide information how the COVID-19 pandemic influences the course of AD and emerging self-management strategies for PWAD.

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on telepractice in speech-language pathology.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, speech-language pathology telepractice was used by a small percentage of consumers. The 2020 pandemic necessitated the transition of most services to an online format. This article reports on a brief, electronic survey that was completed by 145 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) during the early months (June 2020) of the pandemic. Results showed that the majority of SLPs will continue using a telepractice model into 2021 and beyond, as more than half of SLPs rated the quality as similar to services delivered in-person. The absence of earlier preparation, access to and hindrances with technology, and client factors were the main elements influencing telepractice success for SLPs. However, telepractice was rated as an efficient means of consultation, evaluation, and intervention and survey results revealed that 53.84% of SLPs plan on maintaining this modality at a higher than pre-pandemic level.

Information regarding acute stroke associated with COVID-19 in online news.

Patients with COVID-19 may present with neurological manifestations, lack of oxygenation, or clotting disorders such as ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes. This has been observed in even young patients with mild symptoms. The aim of this study was to explore current online news coverage of acute stroke associated with COVID-19 in the four-month period from April 2020 to July 2020, a time during which the US found itself in the center of the pandemic. The relevant Google News stories were reviewed for content. The analysis indicated that 118 online news reports covered the topic to varying degrees, including data from reputable sources, references to the neurological symptoms, and to the incidence of stroke in young patients. It is important that health professionals be aware of this risk and convey to the public the possibility of stroke due to COVID-19 so as to increase the probability of early diagnosis and optimal outcomes.

Online support information for students with disabilities in colleges and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to remote instruction. This may have caused particular challenges for students with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe the availability of remote instruction and counseling resources on the disability/accessibility websites of colleges and universities in the greater New York City area. At the time this study was conducted, this region was the global COVID-19 epicenter. METHODS: All colleges/universities in the New York City metropolitan area were identified using Petersen's online search guide. Descriptive information (institution's name, size, and location) was recorded. The disability/accessibility pages of websites were located and examined for remote instructional resources for both educators and for students, a way to make an appointment with the counseling center (phone number and/or email address), and a link to the counseling center. Descriptive statistics were recorded (percentages of small, medium, large size institutions, mean, median, range and standard deviations of enrollments, and number and percentage of institutions that provided online accessibility resources) and one-sided Chi square tests were conducted to test the relationship between school size and the availability of resources. RESULTS: 17% of the colleges/universities had no link to disability/accessibility services on their websites. Of the remaining 127 institutions, few made the aforementioned resources available on the disability/accessibility page. The most prevalent resource observed was providing students with remote instruction assistance. The association between school size and the aforementioned resources was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Making information available to students with disabilities is a fundamental part of accessibility in higher education. Doing so is all the more necessary given the challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges which are likely to continue for years to come.