Online credibility of a national health institution: infodemiological analysis of Facebook users' reactions

Authors

  • Frank Zela-Coila Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Arequipa. Perú. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Agustinos (SOCIEMA). Perú. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2805-9162
  • Yanisa Zela-Coila Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Agustinos (SOCIEMA). Perú. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4980-5593
  • Jhian Karlo Cáceres-Ruiz Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Agustinos (SOCIEMA). Perú. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2467-0351
  • Ninoska Cuentas-Castro Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Agustinos (SOCIEMA). Perú. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2322-1864
  • Fernanda Colque-Apfata Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Agustinos (SOCIEMA). Perú. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2322-1864
  • Dayanne Salas-Idme Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Agustinos (SOCIEMA). Perú. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9419-0305

Keywords:

National Health Systems; Social Networking; Trust; COVID-19

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to determine the public's reactions on the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Health of Peru. A search was conducted on the Ministry of Health of Peru's Facebook page on the Buzzsumo platform, which provides a record of the interactions that the Facebook pages' posts had. A global analysis of the posts of each page included and a sub-analysis by the COVID-19 topic were performed. The search period covered from 01/01/2020 to 31/8/2020. The data were recorded in Microsoft Excel 2016 and analyzed in the statistical software R version 4.2.2. During the analyzed period, 544 (46.1%) posts related to COVID-19 were recorded. The predominant sentiment in these posts was positive (46.5%), followed by neutral (41.6%) and negative (11.9%). It was observed that most of the posts used hashtags (82.5%), images (51.9%), and videos (47.5%). The interactions had a median of 1301, the reactions of 82, the likes of 711, and the number of times shared of 310. The percentage of infodemic and potentially infodemic reactions had a median of 12.5 and 20, respectively. The publications of the Ministry of Health managed to generate a significant level of interaction and participation from users, demonstrating their impact on society. The use of visual elements, hashtags, and positive content proved to be effective in capturing attention and eliciting a favorable emotional response from users.

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Published

2026-05-28

How to Cite

1.
Zela-Coila F, Zela-Coila Y, Cáceres-Ruiz JK, Cuentas-Castro N, Colque-Apfata F, Salas-Idme D. Online credibility of a national health institution: infodemiological analysis of Facebook users’ reactions. Rev. cuba. inf. cienc. salud [Internet]. 2026 May 28 [cited 2026 May 30];37. Available from: https://acimed.sld.cu/index.php/acimed/article/view/3482

Issue

Vol. 37 (2026): (PUBLICACIÓN CONTINUA)

Section

Sección temática: Ciencias de la información y COVID-19

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Frank Zela-Coila, Yanisa Zela-Coila, Jhian Karlo Cáceres-Ruiz, Ninoska Cuentas-Castro, Fernanda Colque-Apfata, Dayanne Salas-Idme

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