Sidelines 17 (3)

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination

University of York

Web: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd

Clements A, Parry-Langdon N, Roberts C. Men’s health – is there a popular press potential? Health Education Journal. 2006;65:275-87.

This article explores the potential role for popular magazines in the communication of health promotion messages, particularly to men. The authors looked at three categories of popular magazines: women’s weeklies, women’s monthlies and magazines aimed at men, all of which have a health content, sampling 27 magazines in total over two specific periods of time.  They then used the communication-behaviour change model to analyse the methods by which articles within these magazines communicate health promotion messages to their readership.

The paper talks about the increase in the number of men’s magazines published, and the increasing number of men known to be reading women’s magazines.  It highlights the possibilities this raises of getting health promotion messages across to men.  The research reveals that those men’s magazines studied tend to treat health issues in an irreverent fashion, and in parallel to this many of the women’s magazines talk about family health issues, the implication being that women are responsible for their family’s health and therefore the health of the men in their family.  The authors concern is that by continuing to discuss family health issues (and men’s health issues), women’s magazines are perpetuating the notion that women are the gatekeepers for men’s health.  The article concludes however that there is a definite potential for men’s magazines to carry articles with health promotion messages and discusses how that might be achieved by partnership between health professionals and magazine editors, and by consultation with the target audience.

Smith R. Medical journals and the mass media: moving from love and hate to love. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2006;99:347-52.

This article is one in a series of extracts adapted from a book written by the author (a former editor of the BMJ) and published late in 2006.  The tone of the article is humorous but with serious messages about the relationship between the mass media and the world of medical journals.  The author starts by giving examples of his own experiences with television in particular, using epigrams such as beware the flattery of the media to illustrate the pitfalls that can arise when medical professionals encounter the world of popular journalism and media.  He then moves on to examine the changes that have occurred over time in the way that medical journals handle their relationship with the mass media.  He describes changes made in rules about embargos on the release of information that were requested by the media, and discusses the move from hostility to co-operation with the media interest in stories.

The article discusses why the mass media would want access to research in medical journals, and then moves on to discussing the benefits that the medical journals themselves might feel they gain from having their stories covered by the media, such as an increase in citations, prestige and audience.  It also discusses whether the journals actively court this attention by publishing media-friendly research.  Quality of coverage is discussed, using examples including the scares regarding the mumps, measles and rubella jabs and flesh eating bug. The author concludes that he personally feels optimistic that the continuing relationship between medical journals and the mass media will work for the public interest, and in fact feels more concerned about the growing involvement of the pharmaceutical industry in the world of medical journals, than in the world of media.

Ballard E. Exploration of nurses information environment. Nurse Researcher. 2006;13(4):50-65.

Ballard explores how computerised information services for nursing fit in with, and support, nursing practice.  She used soft systems methodology to look at how nurses on hospital wards convey information to colleagues.  The study involved six wards from two orthopaedic units.

The study explored nurses formal and informal information recording systems and information-giving processes, including verbal handover between nursing teams.  The study found that the formal information recording systems that nurses are asked to use have a separate review process from informal recording activity and verbal handover processes.

Current computerised and paper information recording systems don’t really help nurses to store and convey information, so further work is needed to develop systems that can offer appropriate information to support nurses in their work.

Handover between nursing teams is a primary way that information is shared in nursing and the paper recommends that it should be developed into what Ballard calls a managed nurse inforum system.  Nurses also share information in various ways with other healthcare professionals, and any systems being developed need to take account of the need for information-sharing across the various disciplines.  The paper concludes that computerised information systems for nurses remain problematic and such systems should be informed by an appreciation of the complexities of nursing communication and information-storing.

Powell J, Clarke A. Internet information-seeking in mental health: population survey. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2006;189:273-277.

This paper reports the results of a postal questionnaire survey sent to a sample of the population in Oxfordshire.  The researchers also conducted an interview study of 36 individuals. The survey focused on the participants mental health information needs and their use of the Internet to answer those information needs.  The questionnaire was pre-tested and piloted, and then sent to 1,800 individuals.  Reminders were sent and a prize draw was used to encourage response. 

A response rate of 58.3% was achieved.  Respondents were significantly more likely to be female and to come from less deprived areas of Oxfordshire.  34% of respondents had some evidence of current mental health disturbance and 20.1% of respondents had mental health disturbance rated as high or severe.  58.8% of the sample reported using the Internet, with no difference by gender.  However, there was a large and significant difference by age, with 84.5% of respondents aged 45 and under reporting using the Internet, compared to 42.9% of those aged 46 and over.  There was also a difference by educational attainment. 

37.4% of the sample had used the Internet for finding general health information.  10.6% of the sample had used the Internet to find out about mental health.  Internet users with current experience of mental health distress were more likely to have used the Internet to find information about a mental health issue than those without current mental health distress.  Those with a past history of serious mental health problem were more likely to have used the Internet than those with no such history.  Mental health workers and GPs were rated as the most accurate sources of information and as the source of information respondents were most likely to use.  The response figures for the use of the Internet suggest that it is used more than it is trusted.

The authors noted that the survey doesn’t focus on actual behaviour or trends in behaviour, and that it has a moderate response rate.

The Internet is used as a source of mental health information by over 10% of the general population (in Oxfordshire) and by over 20% of those with a history of mental health problems.  The Internet is ranked higher as a source to use than as a source to trust. Health professionals emerge as the most important and trusted source of information. Most people with minor mental health problems seek help from family and friends rather than professionals.

Ahmad F, Hudak PL, Bercovitz K, Hollenberg E, Levinson W. Are physicians ready for patients with Internet-based health information? Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2006;8(3):e22.

This qualitative study examines how physicians respond to and view the rising number of patients who introduce Internet-based health information into routine medical consultations.

Within six focus groups, 48 family physicians were encouraged to discuss the effect of Internet-based health information on physician-patient interaction. Topics raised included its threat to medical authority and whether it increased the effective use of consultation time or assisted collaboration between physicians and patients. Discussions were taped and transcribed, and then analysed using content analysis and constant comparison.

The results showed that the participating physicians were ill-equipped to manage patients introduction of Internet information during medical consultations. In their minds Internet information equated to patient misinformation and a tendency to incorrect self-diagnosis or treatment. However, the authors acknowledge that the physicians in their study held very negative attitudes towards patient use of Internet-based health information compared to previous physician surveys.

Ahmad et al. conclude that “effective initiatives at the level of the health care system are needed.” They suggest physicians need a greater awareness of how easy it is for patients to access medical information and gain some expertise, need to understand patients point of view on Internet information, should be given incentives to critically evaluate materials, and may benefit from guidelines on how to make the most of Internet-based health information in consultations.

Dundar Y, Dodd S, Williamson P, Dickson R, Walley T. Case study of the comparison of data from conference abstracts and full-text articles in health technology assessment of rapidly evolving technologies: does it make a difference? International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 2006;22(3):288-94.

Conference abstracts and presentations are an important forum for the rapid release of important new findings, and new media technologies provide an increased opportunity for the dissemination of information and encourage the early uptake of new health technologies. However, conference proceedings can be difficult for researchers to identify, and the process of locating them can be time-consuming. Limited information in a conference abstract can make judgments about the methodological quality of a study difficult. There is also evidence to suggest that data in abstracts/presentations may be incomplete, with different results being presented in subsequent full-text articles.

This article addresses the issue of reporting research findings in conference abstracts and presentations, and their subsequent publication as full-text articles. It aims to assess whether findings are consistently presented in the two formats, whether methodological quality can be accurately judged from conference abstracts, and the effect of inclusion or exclusion of data from these sources on pooled effect estimates in a meta-analysis.

The researchers used a NICE technology appraisal review (TAR) of coronary artery stents as a case study, and examined the data included in it from conference abstracts and presentations. They found inconsistencies in data presented as conference abstracts and those reported in subsequent published reports. The discrepancies identified could potentially affect the final assessment results of a review, and this highlights an important issue for reviewers who include conference presentation data in a meta-analysis. Incomplete reporting in conference abstracts can mean that reviewers are unable to confidently assess the quality of the research presented.

Dundar Y, Dodd S, Williamson P, Walley T. Searching for and use of conference abstracts in health technology assessment: policy and practice.  International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 2006;22(3):283-7.

This article examines the current policy and practice regarding identification and extent of use of data from conference abstracts in NICE health technology assessment reviews (TARs). There is debate as to whether data from unpublished studies such as conference abstracts and presentations should be included in systematic reviews, as the methodological quality of the research cannot always be accurately judged from a short abstract. However, conference proceedings may be the only source of information about a new technology available to TAR reviewers.

The authors surveyed TAR groups to identify their policy and practice regarding the use of data from conference abstracts, and audited TARs commissioned by NICE and published between January 2000 and October 2004.

They found variation in policy and practice across TAR groups in the way in which conference proceedings were identified and included in reviews. Greater transparency is required regarding how abstract data is managed. If conference abstracts are to be included, then additional time is required for searching for and managing the data. The process of obtaining data from these sources should be documented, including information about search strategies and methods used for assessing the abstracts for inclusion in TARs.

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