Table 5.
Percentage responses to disputed Lyme disease and tick bite prevention statements by 5 categories of respondents to the survey. High-Lyme-disease-incidence states represent responses from people residing within the 14 states identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to report 95% of all human cases [30]. Heavy social media users are defined as those who reported at least once daily usage of a platform. Traditional experts were defined as CDC or another government health agency, one’s primary physician, a university scientist or other academic expert, or mainstream internet health sites (eg, WebMD). Statistical comparison is among answer choices within each question.
| Answer choices | All respondentsa | Heavy social media usersb | Those who first seek traditional expertsa | High-Lyme-disease-incidence states | Low-Lyme-disease-incidence states | ||||||
| “If a deer tick is attached for less than 24 hours it is unlikely to transmit Lyme disease-causing bacteria to humans.” n (%) | |||||||||||
|
|
Agree (CDC-supported) | 482 (40.5) | 313a (36.8) | 230 (32.7) | 425a (42.7) | 57a (29.2) | |||||
|
|
Disagree | 522 (43.9) | 398a (46.8) | 345 (49.1) | 428a (43) | 94a (48.2) | |||||
|
|
Uncertain | 186 (15.6) | 139a (16.4) | 128 (18.2) | 142a (14.3) | 44a (22.5) | |||||
| “Skin repellents that contain the chemical DEET are safe to use on children when used according to product directions.” (n=1183), n (%) | |||||||||||
|
|
Agree (CDC-supported) | 579 (48.9) | 397 (47.0) | 371 (52.7) | 473 (47.5) | 106 (54.6) | |||||
|
|
Disagree | 338 (28.6) | 256 (30.3) | 179 (25.5) | 290 (29.1) | 48 (24.8) | |||||
|
|
Uncertain | 226 (22.5) | 192 (22.7) | 153 (21.8) | 226 (22.7) | 40 (20.6) | |||||
| “You should always ask your doctor for a full course of antibiotics after receiving a tick bite even if you do not know how long the tick was attached or if the tick was infected with Lyme bacteria.” (n=1181), n (%) | |||||||||||
|
|
Agree | 408 (34.5) | 310a (36.7) | 230 (32.7) | 290c (29.4) | 58c (30) | |||||
|
|
Disagree (CDC-supported) | 550 (46.6) | 381a (45.1) | 345 (49.1) | 390c (39.6) | 54c (27.8) | |||||
|
|
Uncertain | 223 (18.9) | 153a (18.1) | 128 (18.2) | 306c (31.0) | 82c (42.2) | |||||
aP<.001.
b“Heavy social media users” and both high- and low-state Lyme disease incidence categories had different response rates for each question. The denominators for each disputed question among this group are identified and the corresponding values are given in italics.
cP<.01.