Universidade Positivo - Curitiba (PR), Brazil.
Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba (PR), Brazil.
Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2021 Jul;67(7):926-930. doi: 10.1590/1806-9282.20201151.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the search for health information on the Internet and to determine the frequency and main means of spreading fake health news.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted through the virtual distribution of questionnaires on social media platforms in 2019 by using the snowball technique. The questionnaire collected information regarding sociodemographics, means used to clarify doubts about health, implementation of information obtained through the Internet, receipt of fake news, and means of transmission of fake news. Quantitative variables are described as means and standard deviations, and categorical variables are described as frequencies and percentages. The chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used.
Out of 1,195 respondents, 53% had followed Internet guidance without consulting a health professional, especially young people and individuals with low education levels (p<0.05). The resources most used to answer questions about health were a physician (78%) and Google (51%), and searches using the latter were more predominant among younger age groups (p<0.05). A large part of the sample (89.4%) had received fake news, and the main means of receipt were Facebook and WhatsApp.
The Internet was the second most commonly used means to search for health information. A significant portion of the population adopts actions based on this information. The frequency of broadcasting fake news through this digital medium is high.
本研究旨在评估互联网上的健康信息搜索，并确定虚假健康新闻的传播频率和主要方式。
本研究采用描述性的横断面研究方法，于 2019 年通过社交媒体平台上的滚雪球技术虚拟分发问卷。该问卷收集了社会人口统计学信息、澄清健康疑问的方式、通过互联网获取信息的实施情况、接收虚假新闻的情况以及传播虚假新闻的方式。定量变量用平均值和标准差描述，分类变量用频率和百分比描述。采用卡方检验和 Fisher 确切概率法。
在 1195 名受访者中，53%的人曾在未经咨询医疗专业人员的情况下遵循互联网指导，尤其是年轻人和教育程度较低的人（p<0.05）。回答健康问题时最常使用的资源是医生（78%）和谷歌（51%），而年轻人更倾向于使用后者进行搜索（p<0.05）。很大一部分样本（89.4%）收到过虚假新闻，主要的接收途径是脸书和 WhatsApp。
互联网是第二大常用的健康信息搜索工具。相当一部分人根据这些信息采取行动。通过这种数字媒体传播虚假新闻的频率很高。
