Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Print and Online-Media are important sources of health information for lay people. Previous studies suggest that mass media often exaggerate medical facts, however so far, no quantitative data on the degree of exaggeration exist to our knowledge.
Objectives: To quantify the degree of deviation of medical news stories from the actual evidence supporting these stories.
Methods: Between May 2011 and June 2014, the media watch blog Medizin-Transparent.at covered 219 health topics that had been the subject of mass media reports in Austria. We searched the WISO newspaper database and Google for all Austrian print and online news stories about these topics published within a time window of three months of the original news stories. The strength of evidence for these topics was determined in rapid review processes and rated on a modified GRADE scale and was subsequently compared to subjective 'implied evidence' in newspapers. The latter was rated on a self-developed scale on the basis of the modified GRADE scale by two raters independently.
Results: Our search yielded 990 media articles in Austrian print and online media covering the 219 prespecified health topics. In 59% of these articles, the evidence for medical facts was reported in a strongly distorted way (exaggerated or understated), only 11% adequately reflected the real strength of evidence. While 61% of articles implied the highest level of evidence for the reported effects, the real evidence was at the highest level for only 3% of articles. Compared to quality media, tabloid media report in a more distorted way. However, this is mainly due to a different choice of covered subjects, since the degree of distorted reporting did not differ significantly between the tabloid and quality media for subjects covered by both.
Conclusions: More than half of Austrian newspaper and online media reports strongly exaggerated or understated medical facts when compared to the actual evidence for these facts. Tabloid media reported in a slightly more distorted way than quality media. Our results confirm previous reports about serious incorrect reporting of medical facts in mass media.
Objectives: To quantify the degree of deviation of medical news stories from the actual evidence supporting these stories.
Methods: Between May 2011 and June 2014, the media watch blog Medizin-Transparent.at covered 219 health topics that had been the subject of mass media reports in Austria. We searched the WISO newspaper database and Google for all Austrian print and online news stories about these topics published within a time window of three months of the original news stories. The strength of evidence for these topics was determined in rapid review processes and rated on a modified GRADE scale and was subsequently compared to subjective 'implied evidence' in newspapers. The latter was rated on a self-developed scale on the basis of the modified GRADE scale by two raters independently.
Results: Our search yielded 990 media articles in Austrian print and online media covering the 219 prespecified health topics. In 59% of these articles, the evidence for medical facts was reported in a strongly distorted way (exaggerated or understated), only 11% adequately reflected the real strength of evidence. While 61% of articles implied the highest level of evidence for the reported effects, the real evidence was at the highest level for only 3% of articles. Compared to quality media, tabloid media report in a more distorted way. However, this is mainly due to a different choice of covered subjects, since the degree of distorted reporting did not differ significantly between the tabloid and quality media for subjects covered by both.
Conclusions: More than half of Austrian newspaper and online media reports strongly exaggerated or understated medical facts when compared to the actual evidence for these facts. Tabloid media reported in a slightly more distorted way than quality media. Our results confirm previous reports about serious incorrect reporting of medical facts in mass media.