ArticleBMC public health2014
Online health information - what the newspapers tell their readers: a systematic content analysis.
Article in BMC public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Content Analysis of Austrian Print and Online Newspaper Coverage of Breastfeeding Over Two Decades.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Health information quality of online newspaper articles in Korea.Korean journal of family medicine · 2025Article
- Potential of UK and US newspapers for shaping patients' knowledge and perceptions about antidiabetic medicines: a content analysis.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Article
- Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: A Google Trends Analysis.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2022Article
- Diabetes in the News: Readability Analysis of Malaysian Diabetes Corpus.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Survey of nutrition knowledge of Kuwaiti health influencers in social media.Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis · 2020Article
- 30+ years of media analysis of relevance to chronic disease: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Cancer News Coverage in Korean Newspapers: An Analytic Study in Terms of Cancer Awareness.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2020Article
- Health tips in newspapers: a matter of concern.The Pan African medical journal · 2020Article
- What does mainstream media say about enzyme replacement therapies?Paediatrics & child health · 2018Article
- Assessing internet-based information used to aid patient decision-making about surgery for perianal Crohn's fistula.Techniques in coloproctology · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study investigated the nature of newspaper reporting about online health information in the UK and US. Internet users frequently search for health information online, although the accuracy of the information retrieved varies greatly and can be misleading. Newspapers have the potential to influence public health behaviours, but information has been lacking in relation to how newspapers portray online health information to their readers.
methodsThe newspaper database Nexis®UK was searched for articles published from 2003 - 2012 relating to online health information. Systematic content analysis of articles published in the highest circulation newspapers in the UK and US was performed. A second researcher coded a 10% sample to establish inter-rater reliability of coding.
resultsIn total, 161 newspaper articles were included in the analysis. Publication was most frequent in 2003, 2008 and 2009, which coincided with global threats to public health. UK broadsheet newspapers were significantly more likely to cover online health information than UK tabloid newspapers (p = 0.04) and only one article was identified in US tabloid newspapers. Articles most frequently appeared in health sections. Among the 79 articles that linked online health information to specific diseases or health topics, diabetes was the most frequently mentioned disease, cancer the commonest group of diseases and sexual health the most frequent health topic. Articles portrayed benefits of obtaining online health information more frequently than risks. Quotations from health professionals portrayed mixed opinions regarding public access to online health information. 108 (67.1%) articles directed readers to specific health-related web sites. 135 (83.9%) articles were rated as having balanced judgement and 76 (47.2%) were judged as having excellent quality reporting. No difference was found in the quality of reporting between UK and US articles.
conclusionsNewspaper coverage of online health information was low during the 10-year period 2003 to 2012. Journalists tended to emphasise the benefits and understate the risks of online health information and the quality of reporting varied considerably. Newspapers directed readers to sources of online health information during global epidemics although, as most articles appeared in the health sections of broadsheet newspapers, coverage was limited to a relatively small readership.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.