Death and illness as depicted in the media

Abstract

Introduction: The media may affect how illness is perceived, in terms of its prevalence, severity and outcomes. The media also influences our perception of death and leads to an overestimation of incidence of some causes of mortality. Articles depicting medical subjects may not be in-depth and are often influenced by non-medical issues. The media has both a positive impact on the population, in providing opportunistic health information, and a negative impact, causing an overestimation of severity and incidence of certain diseases. This article aims to assess if media reporting of illness and death represents national statistics.

Method: The 10 most common daily read UK newspapers were assessed for articles relating to the most common causes of UK mortality. The searches were performed via each newspaper's online search facility over a 12-month period. Where appropriate, media friendly terms were used as search terms.

Results: A total of 18,482 pertinent articles were found relating to the most common causes of death in the UK. When the reportage of illness was compared with the actual incidence cerebrovascular accidents and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were under-represented in the media, with ratios 0.31 and 0.01 to 1, respectively. Flu/pneumonia, prostate cancer, dementia and breast cancer all have a large media profile, with ratios of 5.52, 3.06, 4.09 and 4.9 to 1, respectively.

Conclusion: The media has a significant impact on our perceptions of illness and death. This may influence how patients seek medical attention and their concerns at consultation. Strategies to improve the educational content of the media may enhance the dissemination of health information via this resource.