Robin Charlotte, Symons Charles, Carter Holly
Behavioural Science and Insights Unit, UK Health Security Agency, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Behavioural Science and Insights Unit, UK Health Security Agency, Bristol, United Kingdom.
JMIR Form Res. 2022 Aug 4;6(8):e34422. doi: 10.2196/34422.
Mass asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 was piloted for the first time in the United Kingdom in Liverpool in November 2020. There is limited evidence on uptake of mass testing, and previously where surge testing has been deployed, uptake has been low.
There was an urgent need to rapidly evaluate acceptance of asymptomatic testing, specifically identifying barriers and facilitators to taking part.
As part of the wider evaluation, we conducted a rapid thematic analysis of local community narratives on social media to provide insights from people unlikely to engage in testing or other standard evaluation techniques, such as surveys or interviews. We identified 3 publicly available data sources: the comments section of a local online newspaper, the city council Facebook page, and Twitter. Data were collected between November 2, 2020, and November 8, 2020, to cover the period between announcement of mass testing in Liverpool and the first week of testing. Overall, 1096 comments were sampled: 219 newspaper comments, 472 Facebook comments, and 405 tweets. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach.
Key barriers were accessibility, including site access and concerns over queuing. Queues were also highlighted as a concern due to risk of transmission. Consequences of testing, including an increase in cases leading to further restrictions and financial impact of the requirement for self-isolation, were also identified as barriers. In addition, a lack of trust in authorities and the test (including test accuracy and purpose of testing) was identified. Comments coded as indicative of lack of trust were coded in some cases as indicative of strong collective identity with the city of Liverpool and marginalization due to feeling like test subjects. However, other comments coded as identification with Liverpool were coded as indicative of motivation to engage in testing and encourage others to do so; for this group, being part of a pilot was seen as a positive experience and an opportunity to demonstrate the city could successfully manage the virus.
Our analysis highlights the importance of promoting honest and open communication to encourage and harness existing community identities to enhance the legitimacy of asymptomatic testing as a policy. In addition, adequate and accessible financial support needs to be in place prior to the implementation of community asymptomatic testing to mitigate any concerns surrounding financial hardship. Rapid thematic analysis of social media is a pragmatic method to gather insights from communities around acceptability of public health interventions, such as mass testing or vaccination uptake.
2020年11月，英国首次在利物浦试点开展针对新冠病毒的大规模无症状检测。关于大规模检测的接受情况，现有证据有限，而且此前在开展激增检测的地方，接受度一直很低。
迫切需要迅速评估对无症状检测的接受情况，特别是找出参与检测的障碍和促进因素。
作为更广泛评估的一部分，我们对社交媒体上当地社区的叙述进行了快速主题分析，以便从不太可能参与检测或其他标准评估技术（如调查或访谈）的人群中获取见解。我们确定了3个公开可用的数据源：当地一家在线报纸的评论区、市议会的脸书页面和推特。数据收集时间为2020年11月2日至2020年11月8日，涵盖利物浦宣布大规模检测至检测第一周的时间段。总共抽取了1096条评论：219条报纸评论、472条脸书评论和405条推文。采用归纳主题法对数据进行分析。
主要障碍包括可及性，包括前往检测地点的便利性以及对排队的担忧。排队也因传播风险而被视为一个问题。检测的后果，包括病例增加导致进一步限制措施以及自我隔离要求带来的经济影响，也被确定为障碍。此外，还发现了对当局和检测（包括检测准确性和检测目的）缺乏信任的问题。在某些情况下，被编码为表示缺乏信任的评论，被编码为表示与利物浦市有强烈的集体认同感以及因感觉自己是检测对象而被边缘化。然而，其他被编码为与利物浦有认同感的评论，则被编码为表示参与检测并鼓励他人检测的动机；对于这一群体而言，参与试点被视为一次积极的经历，也是一个展示该市能够成功应对病毒的机会。
我们的分析强调了促进诚实和开放沟通的重要性，以鼓励并利用现有的社区认同感，增强无症状检测作为一项政策的合法性。此外，在实施社区无症状检测之前，需要提供充足且可及的财政支持，以减轻对经济困难的任何担忧。对社交媒体进行快速主题分析是一种实用的方法，可用于从社区中收集关于公共卫生干预措施（如大规模检测或疫苗接种接受情况）可接受性的见解。
