Analysis of posts and comments about ivermectin on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru

Abstract

This research was carried out with the objective of analyzing the posts and perceptions of users, through their comments, about the drug ivermectin on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru. The pots and their comments were selected by manual search using the terms: "ivermectina" and "#ivermectina" in July 2020. The analysis of posts and their comments was made by conventional content analysis with an inductive process and supported by scientific bibliography. There were 17 posts made between May 18 and July 7, 2020, and were classified into 5 topics: rumors (58.8%), based on scientific evidence (11.8%), precaution (11.8%), production of the drug (11.8%) and confrontation (5.9%). Surprisingly, 70.0% of the rumors were offered by media pages. Regarding the comments, these were classified identifying the perceptions of users towards ivermectin into four topics: ivermectin as an “effective cure” (64.8%), request for information on ivermectin (25.3%), against the consumption of ivermectin (6.3%) and other treatments (3.6%). In conclusion, it was identified that more than half of the information about ivermectin that circulates through Facebook posts was classified as “rumors”, and most of them were originates from media pages; regarding the analysis of the comments, the perception of users who consider ivermectin as the “effective cure” against COVID-19 stands out over other perceptions.