COVID-19–Related Rumor Content, Transmission, and Clarification Strategies in China: Descriptive Study

Peishan Ning   ^{1 *} , PhD ;   Peixia Cheng   ^{1 *} , PhD ;   Jie Li   ^{1 *} , BSc ;   Ming Zheng   ¹ , BSc ;   David C Schwebel   ² , PhD ;   Yang Yang   ³ , PhD ;   Peng Lu   ⁴ , PhD ;   Li Mengdi   ⁴ , MD ;   Zhuo Zhang   ⁴ , MD ;   Guoqing Hu   ^{1, 5} , PhD

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China

² Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States

³ Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States

⁴ Department of Sociology, Central South University, Changsha, China

⁵ National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

*these authors contributed equally