Questioning reliability assessments of health information on social media

Dalmer, Nicole K.

doi:10.5195/jmla.2017.108

Cited by 52 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…As social media platforms increase in popularity and become a mainstream source for acquiring information, they can offer unlimited access to health content while transcending factors such as age, education, race, or ethnicity (Dalmer 2017). However, there has recently been much controversy surrounding the accuracy and reliability of health information about COVID-19 on social media.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 among Black women: evaluating perspectives and sources of information

et al. 2020

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Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has burgeoned into a pandemic that highlights the countless social and health disparities that have existed in Black communities within the United States for centuries. Recent epidemiological data show that Black communities are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, resulting in higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups. For Black women in particular, a longstanding history of systemic racism and marginalization has resulted in increased vulnerability and susceptibility to certain adverse health outcomes. Recent data show that COVID-19 knowledge rates among Black participants are low, and that Black women who become infected with COVID-19 have higher risks of complications and mortality compared to their non-Black counterparts. Given this data, there is a need to explore where and how Black women are obtaining information that pertains to COVID-19, along with the impacts that COVID-19 may be having on their daily lives. Design: We conducted interviews with 15 Black women who are clients at a community-based family service center to assess their understanding of COVID-19, determine how they were obtaining COVID-19 information, and evaluate the various impacts that COVID-19 was having on their lives. An initial codebook was developed based on the recorded interviews which included deductive and inductive codes. A thematic analysis of the data was then conducted using MaxQDA (Verbi Software), focusing on Black women's experiences related to COVID-19. Results: The majority of participants were using a combination of social media platforms and news sources to obtain information about COVID-19. Most participants (79%) expressed confusion, misunderstanding, and mistrust of the information that they were receiving about COVID-19. Conclusion: In addressing COVID-19-related health disparities within Black communities, it is imperative for trusted entities and organizations within Black communities to provide accurate and tailored information regarding this novel virus.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 among Black women: evaluating perspectives and sources of information

et al. 2020

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“…The Internet is a frequently accessed resource [60, 61], but is mainly used to supplement, rather than provide alternate advice to that given by women’s health care practitioners [57]. Concerns have been raised regarding the reliability, accuracy and currency of information pregnant women may find on the Internet and use to support their health [63, 64]. Women in the present study recognised the need to be discerning when assessing information accessed via the Internet or social media, choosing to combine information found online with information from other mothers, HCPs and their own knowledge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing women’s decision-making regarding complementary medicine product use in pregnancy and lactation

Barnes

Barclay

McCaffery

et al. 2019

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background The prevalence of complementary medicine product (CMP) use by pregnant or breastfeeding Australian mothers is high, however, there is limited data on factors influencing women’s decision-making to use CMPs. This study explored and described the factors influencing women’s decisions take a CMP when pregnant or breastfeeding. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were held with 25 pregnant and/or breastfeeding women who currently used CMPs. Participants’ health literacy was assessed using a validated single-item health literacy screening question and the Newest Vital Sign. Interview and focus group discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Results Participants were a homogenous group. Most had higher education, medium to high incomes and high health literacy skills. They actively sought information from multiple sources and used a reiterative collation and assessment process. Their decision-making to take or not to take CMPs was informed by the need to establish the safety of the CMPs, as well as possible benefits or harms to their baby’s or their own health that could result from taking a CMP. Their specific information needs included the desire to access comprehensive, consistent, clear, easy to understand, and evidence-based information. Women preferred to access information from reputable sources, namely, their trusted health care practitioners, and information linked to government or hospital websites and published research. A lack of comprehensive, clear, consistent, or evidence-based information often led to decisions not to take a CMP, as they felt unable to adequately establish its safety or benefits. Conversely, when the participants felt the CMPs information they collected was good quality and from reputable sources, it reassured them of the safety of the CMP in pregnancy and/or breastfeeding. If this confirmed a clear benefit to their baby or themselves, they were more likely to decide to take a CMP. Conclusions The participants’ demographic profile confirms previous research concerning Australian women who use CMPs during pregnancy and lactation. Participants’ high health literacy skills led them to engage in a reiterative, information-seeking and analysis process fuelled by the need to find clear information before making the decision to take, or not to take, a CMP. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12884-019-2396-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…These results suggest that on the one hand, there are uncertainties or a “healthy” distrust on the reliability of health information derived from newspapers, magazines, television and the internet. On the other hand, despite the increasing importance of the internet for medical information [41], that health care professionals remain to be most trusted contact persons for health related concerns. However, apart from simple instructions, a considerable percentage of the population had difficulties in more complex interactions with the health care system, such as “to use information the doctor gives you to make decisions about your illness?” or “to judge when you may need to get a second opinion from another doctor?” [24,29,40] These findings indicate that there is still a high potential for improving the doctor-patient communication and more explicitly, for health care professionals to interact in a clear and understandable way and to actively integrate patients in decision making processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health literacy in men and women with cardiovascular diseases and its association with the use of health care services - Results from the population-based GEDA2014/2015-EHIS survey in Germany

et al. 2018

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BackgroundHealth literacy (HL), defined as the ability to access, understand, appraise and apply health information, offers a promising approach to reduce the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and to improve the management of CVD in populations.DesignWe used data from nationwide cross-sectional German Health Update (GEDA2014/2015-EHIS) survey. 13,577 adults ≥ 40 years completed a comprehensive standardized paper or online questionnaire including the short form of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16).MethodsWe compared participants with and without CVD with regard to their HL. We also analyzed the association between HL level and health care outcomes among individuals with CVD, i.e. frequency of general practitioner or specialist consultations, hospitalization and treatment delay.ResultsThe percentage of “problematic” or “inadequate” HL, defined as “not sufficient” HL, was significantly higher in individuals with CVD compared to without CVD (men 41.8% vs. 33.6%, women 46.7% vs. 33.4%). Having CVD was independently associated with “not sufficient” HL after adjusting for age, education, income, health consciousness and social support (adjusted OR: men 1.36, women 1.64). Among participants with CVD, individuals with “inadequate” HL were more likely to have more than 6 general practitioner consultations (49.3% vs. 28.7%), hospitalization (46.6% vs. 36.0%) in the last 12 months and to experience delay in getting health care because of long waiting lists for an appointment (30.7% vs. 18.5%) compared to participants with “sufficient” HL.Conclusion“Problematic” or “inadequate” HL is independently associated with CVD and health care use. This is a challenge and an opportunity for both CVD prevention and treatment.

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Questioning reliability assessments of health information on social media

Cited by 52 publications

References 45 publications

The impact of COVID-19 among Black women: evaluating perspectives and sources of information

The impact of COVID-19 among Black women: evaluating perspectives and sources of information

Factors influencing women’s decision-making regarding complementary medicine product use in pregnancy and lactation

Health literacy in men and women with cardiovascular diseases and its association with the use of health care services - Results from the population-based GEDA2014/2015-EHIS survey in Germany

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