Alhomsi Alaa, Aldoss Hala, Aljoujou Abeer A, Mashlah Ammar Mahmoud, Hajeer Mohammad Y, Alyafi Amr, Almasri Imad Addin
Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Damascus, Damascus, SYR.
Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Damascus, Damascus, SYR.
Cureus. 2024 Mar 21;16(3):e56625. doi: 10.7759/cureus.56625. eCollection 2024 Mar.
Social media has been widely utilized to spread health-related information, which has led to the possibility of spreading medical misinformation. The extent of the issue is unknown, even though policymakers, researchers, and medical professionals agree that health misinformation must be controlled and combated.
A cross-sectional study was conducted by the faculty of dentistry at Damascus University.
This quantitative cross-sectional study used a voluntary questionnaire distributed online in social media groups. Participants were of different ages, genders, and educational levels.
Of the 301 questionnaires collected, 291 were analyzed. The study sample comprised secondary education certificates, university students, and postgraduate students. 96.6% of the study sample used two or more SM applications. 71.5% of the study sample uses Facebook more than other applications for dental information research, followed by Instagram (14.8%), Telegram (8.2%), and finally WhatsApp (5.5%). There was a significant difference between the age of the respondents and the SM application they used most (p = 0.027). 46.4% of the study sample were neutral in their answer about what they believed in the trust of information on SM sites, followed by 42.3% who did not agree with the trust of information on SM sites and 11.3 who agreed. 89.7% of the study sample visit the dentist when facing a medical problem, while 10.3% follow advice on SM sites. There was a significant difference between the age of respondents and the source they relied on when facing a medical problem (p = 0.019). 50.2% of the study sample sometimes feels that the advice on SM sites is marketing for a company or product or advertising for doctors and not others.
In particular, understanding the methods and prevalence of health misinformation, as well as the current gaps in knowledge in this area, will help us to guide future research and, more specifically, to develop evidence-based digital policy action plans targeted at addressing this public health issue through various social media platforms.
社交媒体已被广泛用于传播与健康相关的信息，这导致了传播医学错误信息的可能性。尽管政策制定者、研究人员和医学专业人员一致认为必须控制和打击健康错误信息，但该问题的严重程度尚不清楚。
大马士革大学牙科学院开展了一项横断面研究。
这项定量横断面研究使用了在社交媒体群组中在线分发的自愿调查问卷。参与者年龄、性别和教育水平各异。
在收集的301份问卷中，对291份进行了分析。研究样本包括中学教育证书持有者、大学生和研究生。96.6%的研究样本使用两种或更多社交媒体应用程序。71.5%的研究样本在进行牙科信息研究时使用Facebook的频率高于其他应用程序，其次是Instagram（14.8%）、Telegram（8.2%），最后是WhatsApp（5.5%）。受访者的年龄与他们最常使用的社交媒体应用程序之间存在显著差异（p = 0.027）。46.4%的研究样本对他们在社交媒体网站上所相信的信息持中立态度，其次是42.3%不同意社交媒体网站上信息可信度的人，以及11.3%表示同意的人。89.7%的研究样本在面临医疗问题时会去看牙医，而10.3%会遵循社交媒体网站上的建议。受访者的年龄与他们在面临医疗问题时所依赖的信息来源之间存在显著差异（p = 0.019）。50.2%的研究样本有时觉得社交媒体网站上的建议是公司或产品的营销手段，或是医生的广告，而非其他。
特别是，了解健康错误信息的传播方式和流行程度，以及该领域当前的知识空白，将有助于我们指导未来的研究，更具体地说，有助于制定基于证据的数字政策行动计划，旨在通过各种社交媒体平台解决这一公共卫生问题。
