Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jul 13;35(32):4041-4047.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.05.048. Epub 2017 Jun 12.

Communicating infectious disease prevalence through graphics: Results from an international survey

Angela Fagerlin  1 , Thomas S Valley  2 , Aaron M Scherer  3 , Megan Knaus  4 , Enny Das  5 , Brian J Zikmund-Fisher  6
Affiliations

Communicating infectious disease prevalence through graphics: Results from an international survey

Angela Fagerlin et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Background: Graphics are increasingly used to represent the spread of infectious diseases (e.g., influenza, Zika, Ebola); however, the impact of using graphics to adequately inform the general population is unknown.

Objective: To examine whether three ways of visually presenting data (heat map, dot map, or picto-trendline)-all depicting the same information regarding the spread of a hypothetical outbreak of influenza-influence intent to vaccinate, risk perception, and knowledge.

Design: Survey with participants randomized to receive a simulated news article accompanied by one of the three graphics that communicated prevalence of influenza and number of influenza-related deaths.

Setting: International online survey.

Participants: 16,510 adults living in 11 countries selected using stratified random sampling based on age and gender.

Measurements: After reading the article and viewing the presented graphic, participants completed a survey that measured interest in vaccination, perceived risk of contracting disease, knowledge gained, interest in additional information about the disease, and perception of the graphic.

Results: Heat maps and picto-trendlines were evaluated more positively than dot maps. Heat maps were more effective than picto-trendlines and no different from dot maps at increasing interest in vaccination, perceived risk of contracting disease, and interest in additional information about the disease. Heat maps and picto-trendlines were more successful at conveying knowledge than dot maps. Overall, heat maps were the only graphic to be superior in every outcome.

Limitations: Results are based on a hypothetical scenario.

Conclusion: Heat maps are a viable option to promote interest in and concern about infectious diseases.

Keywords: Communication; Graphics; Infectious disease; Influenza; Vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of graphics provided to UK participants.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graphic preferences by country.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lehmann B.A., Ruiter R.A., Kok G. A qualitative study of the coverage of influenza vaccination on Dutch news sites and social media websites. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1):547. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mollema L., Harmsen I.A., Broekhuizen E. Disease detection or public opinion reflection? Content analysis of tweets, other social media, and online newspapers during the measles outbreak in the Netherlands in 2013. J Med Internet Res. 2015;17(5):e128. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huesch M.D., Galstyan A., Ong M.K., Doctor J.N. Using social media, online social networks, and internet search as platforms for public health interventions: a pilot study. Health Serv Res. 2016;51(Suppl 2):1273–1290. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thackeray R., Neiger B.L., Smith A.K., Van Wagenen S.B. Adoption and use of social media among public health departments. BMC Public Health. 2012;12(1):242. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hawker M.D. Social networking in the National Health Service in England: a quantitative analysis of the online identities of 152 primary care trusts. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2010;160(Pt 1):356–360. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances