Does the public know when a scientific controversy is over? Public perceptions of hydroxychloroquine in France between April 2020 and June 2021

Émilien Schultz (1, 2) , Laëtitia Atlani-Duault (1) , P Peretti-Watel (3) , J K Ward (4)

1 CEPED - UMR_D 196 - Centre population et développement
2 SESSTIM - U1252 INSERM - AMU - UMR 259 IRD - “Cancer, Biomedicine & Society” group
3 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes
4 CERMES3 - UMR 8211 / U988 / UM 7 - CERMES3 - Centre de recherche Médecine, sciences, santé, santé mentale, société

Objectives In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, chloroquine and its derivatives such as hydroxychloroquine (HC) were widely commented upon both within the scientific community and in the media. This paper explores the different factors that influenced public perceptions in France of the efficacy of HC as well as their evolution between April 2020 and June 2021. Methods This article draws on 5 surveys conducted among representative samples of the French population (projects COCONEL and TRACTRUST ; quota method, N=1006 ; 1004 ; 2006 ; 1014 and 1005). We asked questions on the effectiveness of chloroquine against COVID-19. We also collected sociodemographic variables and attitudes toward politics and science. Results Between April and June 2021, the proportion of respondents who believed in the efficacy of HC decreased rapidly from 35% to 14%. The proportion of respondents who believed that HC is ineffective rose gradually from 6% to 21%. After adjusting for the temporal effect, the logistic regression showed a very strong association between political orientation and the belief in the efficacy of HC. Respondents who felt closest to the more radical parties (far right and far left) were more likely to believe in the efficacy of HC than those who felt closest to the political center (O.R. 2.48 [1.95-3.15] and 1.87 [1.44-2.43]). The role of trust in the government and in science and of the degree of political engagement were investigated in the two waves conducted after the scientific consensus was established during the summer of 2020. High levels of trust in the government and in science and of politicization are associated with belief of HC proven inefficacy. Across the whole period, a majority of respondents were uncertain. Even in 2021, 41.5% stated that the data were insufficient to decide whether or not HC is effective and 25.2% stating that they did not know. Conclusion Because media coverage of scientific controversies is higher in times of uncertainty than after these controversies have died down, the publicization of therapeutic promises can have lasting consequences on attitudes towards science and medicine.

Mots clés: Chloroquine; COVID-19; Hydroxychloroquine; Public attitude; Sociology; Surveys

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Médicaments; Sociologie

Émilien Schultz, Laëtitia Atlani-Duault, P Peretti-Watel, J K Ward. Does the public know when a scientific controversy is over? Public perceptions of hydroxychloroquine in France between April 2020 and June 2021. Thérapie, 2022, ⟨10.1016/j.therap.2022.01.008⟩. ⟨hal-03517258v2⟩