Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025382 (Poster 122) | Published:  7 Aug 2025

Characterizing forecasting risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative content analysis of news reports

Kehinde Olawale Ogunyemi1,2,&, Fisayo Ogunwemimo3, Mofeyisara Oluwatoyin Omobowale4, David Oladimeji Alao5, Virgil Kuassi Lokossou6, Lionel Solété Sogbossi6, Yewen Chen1, Henry Sohre Kitiabi1, Ye Shen1, Senait Kebede7, Chima Ohuabunwo8, Scott McNabb2, Melchior Athanase Aïssi6

1University of Georgia, College of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Athens, Georgia, USA, 2Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Hubert Department of Global Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 3Babcock University, Veronica Adeleke School of Social Sciences, Department of Mass Communication, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria,4University of Ibadan, College of Medicine, Institute of Child Health, Ibadan, Nigeria,5Babcock University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, 6West African Health Organization, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, 7Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory Global Health Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 8Morehouse School of Medicine, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

&Corresponding author: Kehinde Olawale Ogunyemi, University of Georgia, College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Athens, Georgia, USA, Email: ogunyemikehinde89@gmail.com

Received: 24 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 07 Aug 2025

Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology

This is part of the Proceedings of the ECOWAS 2nd Lassa fever International Conference in Abidjan, September 8 – 11, 2025

Keywords: COVID-19, forecasting, risk communication, news reports, public health emergencies

©Kehinde Olawale Ogunyemi et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cite this article: Kehinde Olawale Ogunyemi et al., Characterizing forecasting risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative content analysis of news reports. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(Conf Proc 5):00266. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00266

Introduction

Risk communication remains an essential component of public health emergency management to improve population adherence to public health and social measures, resulting in better response and health outcomes. This study aimed to characterize forecasting risk communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We performed a deductive content analysis of 12 high-readership news media online databases selected across the six world regions.

Results

The global prevalence of COVID-19 forecasting risk communication news reporting was 50% (n = 6 regions). COVID-19 forecasting risk communication news availability was highest in the American region (69.2%), followed by the Australian region (23.1%), with zero per cent in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The rates for COVID-19 forecasting risk communication news simplicity and completeness were highest in the American and European regions (100% each), and lowest in the Australian region (66.7%).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest the need for improved forecasting risk communication to enhance the adoption of control measures by populations and communities in future public health emergencies.

 
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