Department of the Theory of Language and Communication Sciences, Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
The Two Cultures Observatory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2020 Jan;29(1):e13180. doi: 10.1111/ecc.13180. Epub 2019 Oct 3.
The media are an important source of health information that can help people make their own medical decisions. However, medical news can also transmit biases produced by different factors, such as the previously held beliefs of journalists. This study identifies which cancer myths are more popular among future journalists and whether their beliefs are related to their chosen source of health information.
A survey was conducted among journalism undergraduates (N = 249) to determine which cancer myths existed and how widespread they were. The survey included a list with different sources of health information and eight questions regarding cancer-related myths.
The most extensive myths among the undergraduate respondents were that sweeteners (40.2%) and cell phones (48.2%) produce cancer and that a patient's good or bad attitude can determine the outcome of such an illness (52.2%). Respondents who relied on their family and friends as a source of health information were more prone to believe in cancer myths.
This research focuses on future journalists as a group of special interest for improving knowledge about cancer. Future campaigns to debunk cancer misconceptions should pay attention to the role played by family and friends as agents of health information transmittance.
媒体是健康信息的重要来源，可以帮助人们做出自己的医疗决策。然而，医学新闻也可能传播由不同因素产生的偏见，例如记者先前的信念。本研究旨在确定哪些癌症谣言在未来的记者中更受欢迎，以及他们的信念是否与他们选择的健康信息来源有关。
对新闻专业本科生（N=249）进行了一项调查，以确定存在哪些癌症谣言以及它们的普及程度。该调查包括一份不同健康信息来源的清单和八个关于癌症相关谣言的问题。
在本科受访者中，最广泛的谣言是甜味剂（40.2%）和手机（48.2%）会致癌，以及患者的良好或不良态度可以决定此类疾病的结果（52.2%）。依赖家人和朋友作为健康信息来源的受访者更容易相信癌症谣言。
本研究将未来的记者作为一个特别关注的群体，以提高他们对癌症的认识。未来揭穿癌症误解的运动应该注意家庭和朋友作为健康信息传播者所扮演的角色。
