- Misinformation about health can prevent people from seeking the care they need.
- Although they provide a space for sharing ideas, social networks harbor false information on health-related topics.
- A survey found that people with lower education and income, distrust of the healthcare system, or interest in alternative treatments are more likely to believe false information.
- Targeted messaging and advocacy from public health officials could help address the growing problem of inaccurate health-related information.
Social media sites are platforms for people to share ideas and stay in touch with families and professionals. However, they can also be a haven for inaccurate information. Some of this information is health-related, which may be misinforming to those seeking to make health-related decisions.
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And the prevalence of health misinformation on social media is increasing. A Systematic review recently reviewed 69 studies focused on health misinformation on social media.
Investigators found a large amount of incorrect health content regarding smoking products, medications, and public health issues including vaccines and diseases. The prevalence of health misinformation was highest on Twitter.
Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Regina, Canada, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, studied this problem in more depth.
Due to growing concern among healthcare professionals that false information could lead people to not take necessary steps for optimal healthcare, the team sought to identify who is most likely to believe misinformation.
To achieve this, researchers surveyed 1,020 people aged 40 to 80 in the United States. Their conclusions appear in the journal Health psychology.
In the survey, participants rated their perception of the accuracy of 24 recent posts on Facebook and Twitter. These messages contained true and false information about cancer treatments,
This misinformation included the claim that red yeast rice is just as effective at lowering cholesterol as statins, that marijuana, ginger and dandelion roots can cure cancer, and that HPV vaccines are dangerous.
After participants viewed the messages, they rated the information as completely false, somewhat false, somewhat true, or completely true. The team then asked questions about education level, interest in
After compiling the data, the research team found that people with lower education levels and less health care knowledge were more likely to believe inaccurate information than other study participants .
People who distrusted the healthcare system and those who had favorable views of alternative treatments were also more likely to believe health-related misinformation.
Additionally, participants who believed false claims on one topic were also likely to believe misinformation presented on other health topics.
Lead author Laura D. Scherer, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, explains the implications of these findings:
“Inaccurate information is a barrier to good health care because it can discourage people from taking preventative measures to avoid illness and make them hesitant to seek care when they become ill. Identifying who is most likely to be a victim of misinformation could provide considerable insight into how this information spreads and provide us with new avenues for intervention.
In the United States, between 2017 and 2018, a investigation reported a 20% reduction in general trust in health care among the informed public. The study also found that trust in healthcare globally fell by 4%.
In a national address last year, American Medical Association President Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, explained further:
“We have seen a worrying shift in recent decades where policy decisions appear to be driven by ideology and politics rather than facts and evidence. The result is a growing distrust of American institutions – of science – and of the advice of eminent experts who devote their lives to the pursuit of evidence and reason.
To combat misinformation due to lack of trust or fear, Dr. Harris says the healthcare community and public should try to seek and share information only from credible sources.
Although more research is needed to understand how to intervene in the cycle of misinformation, Dr. Scherer says:
“We hope that researchers can build on these findings and develop new evidence-based interventions to reduce the influence and spread of health misinformation online.” Such measures could save countless lives.
