Network Science Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA; email:
Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Annu Rev Public Health. 2020 Apr 2;41:433-451. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094127. Epub 2019 Dec 24.
The internet has become a popular resource to learn about health and to investigate one's own health condition. However, given the large amount of inaccurate information online, people can easily become misinformed. Individuals have always obtained information from outside the formal health care system, so how has the internet changed people's engagement with health information? This review explores how individuals interact with health misinformation online, whether it be through search, user-generated content, or mobile apps. We discuss whether personal access to information is helping or hindering health outcomes and how the perceived trustworthiness of the institutions communicating health has changed over time. To conclude, we propose several constructive strategies for improving the online information ecosystem. Misinformation concerning health has particularly severe consequences with regard to people's quality of life and even their risk of mortality; therefore, understanding it within today's modern context is an extremely important task.
互联网已成为人们获取健康知识和了解自身健康状况的热门资源。然而，由于网上有大量不准确的信息，人们很容易被误导。人们一直从正规医疗体系之外获取信息，那么互联网是如何改变人们获取健康信息的方式的呢？这篇综述探讨了人们如何在线上与健康错误信息互动，无论是通过搜索、用户生成的内容还是移动应用程序。我们讨论了个人获取信息是帮助还是阻碍了健康结果，以及随着时间的推移，传达健康信息的机构的可信度是如何变化的。最后，我们提出了一些改进在线信息生态系统的建设性策略。与健康相关的错误信息会对人们的生活质量甚至死亡风险产生特别严重的后果；因此，了解当今现代背景下的错误信息是一项极其重要的任务。
