Mercado-Martinez F J, Robles-Silva L, Moreno-Leal N, Franco-Almazan C
Universidad de Guadalajara Health Sciences Center, Guadalajara, Mexico.
J Health Commun. 2001 Jul-Sep;6(3):235-47. doi: 10.1080/108107301752384424.
The mass media are recognized by many social scientists as important sources of medical information for lay people and as a positive influence on those working in the health care professions. However, there is a lack of study about print and mass media reporting on major health problems in developing countries such as Mexico. This article presents the findings of a study conducted to identify specific messages that the Mexican print media convey to the general reader about chronic diseases, especially one of the most important and pervasive, diabetes. We undertook a comprehensive review and content analysis of secondary source media reporting in the Boletin (Bulletin)--published by the Department of Education and Health, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco. The Boletin summarizes all articles related to health matters published in 12 national daily newspapers and 3 magazines. Our study covered all issues of the Boletin from 1992 through 1996. Our findings indicate that at times the press and popular print media disseminate an incomplete and often biased picture of chronic diseases prevalent in Mexico. Specifically, the press gives equal or more important coverage of acute diseases, or to AIDS, than to other major chronic conditions. The press also reproduces the biomedical model of disease and does not address topics important to certain segments of the population, including the patient. Moreover, the media may present an overly idealized impression of the capability of health services. Consequently, this failure to address the issues of certain widespread, chronic illnesses is severe enough to ask about the role of the press in medical health care reform. We conclude by suggesting areas for further research.
许多社会科学家认为大众媒体是外行人获取医学信息的重要来源，并且对医疗保健行业的从业者有着积极影响。然而，对于像墨西哥这样的发展中国家，有关印刷媒体和大众媒体对重大健康问题报道的研究却很匮乏。本文呈现了一项研究的结果，该研究旨在确定墨西哥印刷媒体向普通读者传达的有关慢性病的具体信息，尤其是其中最重要且最普遍的糖尿病。我们对墨西哥自治大学索奇米尔科分校教育与健康系出版的《简报》（Boletin）中的二手资料媒体报道进行了全面回顾和内容分析。《简报》汇总了12份全国性日报和3份杂志上发表的所有与健康相关的文章。我们的研究涵盖了《简报》1992年至1996年的所有期次。我们的研究结果表明，有时新闻媒体和大众印刷媒体对墨西哥普遍存在的慢性病的传播并不完整，且往往带有偏见。具体而言，新闻媒体对急性病或艾滋病的报道与其他主要慢性病相当，甚至给予了更重要的报道。新闻媒体还沿用了疾病的生物医学模式，没有涉及对包括患者在内的某些人群重要的话题。此外，媒体可能对卫生服务能力呈现出过于理想化的印象。因此，这种对某些广泛存在的慢性病问题的忽视严重到足以让人质疑新闻媒体在医疗保健改革中的作用。我们最后提出了进一步研究的领域。
