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
. 2024 Aug 17:5:100332.
doi: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2024.100332. eCollection 2024 Dec 15.

Trust of social media content and risk of making misinformed decisions: Survey of people affected by cancer and their caregivers

Affiliations

Trust of social media content and risk of making misinformed decisions: Survey of people affected by cancer and their caregivers

Ilona Fridman et al. PEC Innov. .

Abstract

Background: This study explores social media (SM) usage and trust in information among cancer patients and their caregivers. We compare socio-demographic characteristics to identify groups more likely to rely on social media for treatment decisions and those less inclined to validate social media information with their provider.

Methods: A national survey of people diagnosed with cancer and those who were caregivers to people diagnosed with cancer was conducted via online survey in November-December 2021. Socio-demographic factors associated with respondents' use of SM and comfort disclosing SM use were assessed using logistic regression.

Findings: Out of 262 respondents, 65% were likely to use SM to make decisions about lifestyle changes, cancer screening, vaccination, cancer treatment, medical testing, or choosing a provider. SM users were younger (ORadj = 0.11, p < 0.01), identified as Black (ORadj = 10.19, p < 0.01), and had less education (ORadj = 0.86, p = 0.02). Those with less education reported not being comfortable discussing SM with their providers (ORadj = 1.25, padj = 0.01).

Discussion: Results contribute new understanding of the digital divide, highlighting the need for not only improving access to digital information but also the need for a supportive environment that provides patients with dependable methods to verify the authenticity of the information they encounter.

Keywords: Cancer misinformation; Disparities; Medical decision making; Social media.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Carma Bylund (second author) is an editor of the journal to which we are submitting the manuscript If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Unlabelled Image
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percent of respondents who trusted social media “a lot” or “some” by type of SM. The category “Others” allowed respondents to type in any source of their choice, the most frequent answers included: google or other online sources, friends, family, and offline resources.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percent of respondents who were “likely” or “somewhat likely” to use social media by decision type.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The percentage of respondents “likely” or “somewhat likely” to use social media, by respondent characteristics. Total sample includes those who are likely to use SM: n = 171; Age tertiles include: 0–25% <30 y.o; 25–75% 31–45 y.o.; 75–100% >45 y.o; Income tertiles include: 0–25% less than $25,000; 25–75% between $25,000 – $50,000; 75–100% more than $50,000; * indicates significance level at p < 0.05.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The percentage of respondents who reported feeling “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” sharing information from social media with their healthcare providers, by respondent characteristics. Total sample includes those who are likely to use SM: n = 171; Age tertiles include: 0–25% <18–30 y.o; 25–75% 31–45 y.o.; 75–100% >45–89 y.o; Income tertiles include: 0–25% less than $25,000; 25–75% between $25,000 – $50,000; 75–100% more than $50,000; * indicates significance level at p < 0.05.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Boyd D.M., Ellison N.B. Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship. J Comput-Mediat Commun. 2007;13:210–230.
    1. HINTS How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements? I use information from social media to make decisions about my health. 2022. https://hints.cancer.gov/view-questions/question-detail.aspx?PK_Cycle=14... [cited 20 Sep 2023]. Available.
    1. Fridman I., Lucas N., Henke D., Zigler C.K. Association between public knowledge about COVID-19, Trust in Information Sources, and adherence to social distancing: cross-sectional survey. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020;6 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Braun L.A., Zomorodbakhsch B., Keinki C., Huebner J. Information needs, communication and usage of social media by cancer patients and their relatives. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2019;145:1865–1875. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Swire-Thompson B., Lazer D. Public health and online Misinformation: challenges and recommendations. Annu Rev Public Health. 2020;41:433–451. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources