Alternative health (AH) has an important role in public health across cultures, as the World Health Organization acknowledges. Using structural topic modeling, we analyzed 25,561 posts from public Facebook groups that contained AH-related content during the COVID-19 pandemic over 3 years. Thirty-one topics emerged, and they were categorized into six major themes, including (1) sharing information regarding AH treatment for COVID-19, (2) spiritual and mental healing in the pandemic, (3) news and information about COVID-19, (4) commercial content related to AH treatment, (5) COVID-19 precautions suggestions, and (6) caution against treating AH as a cure-all. We found that these Facebook groups served as digital spaces for AH content by playing a dual role: (1) disseminating information on COVID-19 and AH for both laypeople and experts and (2) providing spiritual connections and commercial content to alleviate anxiety during the pandemic. While accurate information and social support were shared, a notable part of commercial messages and AH treatments offered for COVID-19 included misleading and unverified claims. Findings shed light on the nature and extent of misleading AH content and why engagement with AH media may contribute to increased belief in health misinformation. We further discuss the complexity and diversity of content on AH media.

中文翻译：

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探索 COVID-19 大流行中的替代健康 Facebook 群组：通过结构主题建模进行自动内容分析。


正如世界卫生组织所承认的那样，替代健康 （AH） 在跨文化的公共卫生中发挥着重要作用。使用结构主题建模，我们分析了 25,561 年内 COVID-19 大流行期间来自公共 Facebook 群组的 3 篇帖子，这些帖子包含 AH 相关内容。出现了 31 个主题，它们被分为六个主要主题，包括 （1） 分享有关 AH 治疗 COVID-19 的信息，（2） 大流行中的精神和心理治疗，（3） 有关 COVID-19 的新闻和信息，（4） 与 AH 治疗相关的商业内容，（5） COVID-19 预防措施建议，以及 （6） 警告不要将 AH 视为万能药。我们发现，这些 Facebook 群组通过发挥双重作用充当 AH 内容的数字空间：（1） 为外行和专家传播有关 COVID-19 和 AH 的信息，以及 （2） 提供精神联系和商业内容以缓解大流行期间的焦虑。虽然分享了准确的信息和社会支持，但为 COVID-19 提供的商业信息和 AH 治疗的一个重要部分包括误导性和未经证实的声明。研究结果揭示了误导性 AH 内容的性质和程度，以及为什么与 AH 媒体的互动可能会导致对健康错误信息的信念增加。我们进一步讨论了 AH 媒体上内容的复杂性和多样性。