Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding
Abstract Individuals worldwide are overwhelmed with news about COVID-19. In times of pandemic, media alternate the usage of different COVID-19 indicators, ranging from the more typical crude mortality rate to the case fatality rate, and the infection fatality rate continuously. In this article, we u...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-01032-0 |
| _version_ | 1798026531593781248 |
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| author | Chiara Natalie Focacci Pak Hung Lam Yu Bai |
| author_facet | Chiara Natalie Focacci Pak Hung Lam Yu Bai |
| author_sort | Chiara Natalie Focacci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Individuals worldwide are overwhelmed with news about COVID-19. In times of pandemic, media alternate the usage of different COVID-19 indicators, ranging from the more typical crude mortality rate to the case fatality rate, and the infection fatality rate continuously. In this article, we used experimental methods to test whether and how the treatment of individuals with different types of information on COVID-19 is able to change policy preferences, individual and social behaviours, and the understanding of COVID-19 indicators. Results show that while the usage of the crude mortality rate proves to be more efficient in terms of supporting policy preferences and behaviours to contain the virus, all indicators suffer from a significant misunderstanding on behalf of the population. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:37:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c45ea01bd326444a9d55e4e9c5f16d94 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T18:37:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-c45ea01bd326444a9d55e4e9c5f16d942022-12-22T04:09:13ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922022-01-01911810.1057/s41599-021-01032-0Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understandingChiara Natalie Focacci0Pak Hung Lam1Yu Bai2Centre of Empirical Legal Studies, Erasmus University RotterdamDivision of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HKGInstitute of Politics and Economics, Nanjing Audit University, CNAbstract Individuals worldwide are overwhelmed with news about COVID-19. In times of pandemic, media alternate the usage of different COVID-19 indicators, ranging from the more typical crude mortality rate to the case fatality rate, and the infection fatality rate continuously. In this article, we used experimental methods to test whether and how the treatment of individuals with different types of information on COVID-19 is able to change policy preferences, individual and social behaviours, and the understanding of COVID-19 indicators. Results show that while the usage of the crude mortality rate proves to be more efficient in terms of supporting policy preferences and behaviours to contain the virus, all indicators suffer from a significant misunderstanding on behalf of the population.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-01032-0 |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Natalie Focacci Pak Hung Lam Yu Bai Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding |
| title_full | Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding |
| title_fullStr | Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding |
| title_short | Choosing the right COVID-19 indicator: crude mortality, case fatality, and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences, behaviour, and understanding |
| title_sort | choosing the right covid 19 indicator crude mortality case fatality and infection fatality rates influence policy preferences behaviour and understanding |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-01032-0 |
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