ArticleBMJ open2019
Media Coverage of the Benefits and Harms of Testing the Healthy: a protocol for a descriptive study.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Social Media Marketing of Non-Evidence-Based Women's Health Interventions: Protocol for a Content Analysis Using Participatory Research Methods.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Social Media Posts About Medical Tests With Potential for Overdiagnosis.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Social Media Promotion of Health Tests With Potential for Overdiagnosis or Overuse: Protocol for a Content Analysis.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Article
- What Promotes Medical Overuse: Perspective on Evolutionary Game between Administration and Medical Institutions.Computational and mathematical methods in medicine · 2022Article
- The application of artificial intelligence in lung cancer: a narrative review.Translational cancer research · 2021Review
- Preventive health care and the media.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMuch testing in medicine is aimed at healthy people to facilitate the early detection of health conditions. However, there is growing evidence that early detection is a double-edged sword that may cause harm in the form of overdiagnosis. The media can be seen as a major generator of consumer demand for health services. Previous research shows that media coverage tends to overstate the benefits and downplay the harms of medical interventions for the sick, and often fails to cover relevant conflicts of interest of those promoting those interventions. However, little is known about how the benefits and harms of testing the healthy are covered by media. This study will examine the media coverage of the benefits and harms of testing the healthy, and coverage of potential conflicts of interest of those promoting the testing. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will examine five tests: 3D mammography for the early detection of breast cancer; blood liquid biopsy for the early detection of cancer; blood biomarker tests for the early detection of dementia; artificial intelligence technology for the early detection of dementia; and the Apple Watch Series 4 electrocardiogram sensor for the early detection of atrial fibrillation. We will identify media coverage using Google News and the LexisNexis and ProQuest electronic databases. Sets of two independent reviewers will conduct story screening and coding. We will include English language media stories referring to any of the five tests from January 2016 to May 2019. We will include media stories if they refer to any benefits or harms of the test for our conditions of interest. Data will be analysed using categorical data analysis and multinomial logistic regression. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethical approval is required for this study. Results will be presented at relevant scientific conferences and in peer-reviewed literature.
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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.