Health-Related Misinformation
The substantial amount of inaccurate or false health information circulating online[2][3], coupled with low levels of public trust in social and scientific institutions[4], poses a significant challenge for health communication. In response to these trends and developments, HCIRB has been leading several initiatives to better understand and address online misinformation and its consequences for health. The ultimate goal of these initiatives is to support health practitioners and clinical care providers in effectively responding to health misinformation and mitigating its negative impact.
These initiatives will advance scientific knowledge regarding several key research questions, including:
- What is the prevalence of cancer-related misinformation on social media platforms?
- What are the real-world consequences of exposure to health misinformation on social media?
- Which populations are most vulnerable to online misinformation? What demographic and psychosocial factors predict misinformation endorsement and sharing?
- How do individuals process and assess information quality and source credibility when interacting with social media content? What factors are most salient in determining information trustworthiness?
- What are the most effective ways to address misinformation on various social media platforms?
Funding Opportunities
Title | Announcement # | Expiration Date | Contact |
---|---|---|---|
Understanding and Addressing Misinformation among Populations that Experience Health Disparities Notice of NCI Participation in RFA-MD-22-008 More Information |
RFA-MD-22-008 (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional) NOT-CA-22-066 |
November 14, 2022 | Sylvia Chou 240-276-6954 chouws@mail.nih.gov |
Special issue about health misinformation on social media
The NCI partnered with the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) to publish a special issue highlighting cutting-edge research that addresses critical issues surrounding health misinformation on social media. Published on October 1 2020, the special issue showcases diverse approaches to a rapidly expanding research area and addresses topics such as vaccine misinformation, unproven cancer treatments, and rumors about emerging infectious diseases. The issue also highlights the role of healthcare providers in addressing health misinformation and important ethical considerations for health promotion efforts on social media.
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Where We Go From Here: Health Misinformation on Social Media
Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou, Anna Gaysynsky, and Joseph N. Capella -
Who Is Susceptible to Online Health Misinformation?
Laura D. Scherer and Gordon Pennycook -
Correction as a Solution for Health Misinformation on Social Media
Emily K. Vraga and Leticia Bode -
Misinformation About Commercial Tobacco Products on Social Media-Implications and Research Opportunities for Reducing Tobacco-Related Health Disparities
Andy S.L. Tan and Cabral A. Bigman -
Using a Global Pandemic as a Teachable Moment to Promote Vaccine Literacy and Build Resilience to Misinformation
Robin C. Vanderpool, Anna Gaysynsky, and Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou -
Concrete Recommendations for Cutting Through Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Joan Donovan -
Roles for Health Care Professionals in Addressing Patient-Held Misinformation Beyond Fact Correction
Brian G. Southwell, Jamie L. Wood, and Ann Marie Navar -
Ethical Considerations for Digitally Targeted Public Health Interventions
Daniel Susser -
Social Media and Cancer Misinformation: Additional Platforms to Explore
Eric R. Walsh-Buhi
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Crowdfunding Cannabidiol (CBD) for Cancer: Hype and Misinformation on GoFundMe
Marco Zenone, Jeremy Snyder, and Timothy Caulfield -
Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment: Misinformation on Pinterest, 2018
Tamar Wilner and Avery Holton -
HPV Vaccine Searches on Pinterest: Before and After Pinterest's Actions to Moderate Content
Jeanine P.D. Guidry, Emily K. Vraga, Linnea I. Laestadius, Carrie A. Miller, Aurora Occa, Xiaoli Nan, Hannah M. Ming, Yan Qin, Bernard F. Fuemmeler, and Kellie E. Carlyle -
Facebook Pages, the "Disneyland" Measles Outbreak, and Promotion of Vaccine Refusal as a Civil Right, 2009-2019
David A. Broniatowski, Amelia M. Jamison, Neil F. Johnson, Nicolás Velasquez, Rhys Leahy, Nicholas Johnson Restrepo, Mark Dredze, and Sandra C. Quinn -
Limited Role of Bots in Spreading Vaccine-Critical Information Among Active Twitter Users in the United States: 2017-2019
Adam G. Dunn, Didi Surian, Jason Dalmazzo, Dana Rezazadegan, Maryke Steffens, Amalie Dyda, Julie Leask, Enrico Coiera, Aditi Dey, and Kenneth D. Mandl -
Content Themes and Influential Voices Within Vaccine Opposition on Twitter, 2019
Erika Bonnevie, Jaclyn Goldbarg, Allison K. Gallegos-Jeffrey, Sarah D. Rosenberg, Ellen Wartella, and Joe Smyser -
Adapting and Extending a Typology to Identify Vaccine Misinformation on Twitter
Amelia Jamison, David A. Broniatowski, Michael C. Smith, Kajal S. Parikh, Adeena Malik, Mark Dredze, and Sandra C. Quinn -
Contrasting Misinformation and Real-Information Dissemination Network Structures on Social Media During a Health Emergency
Lida Safarnejad, Qian Xu, Yaorong Ge, Siddharth Krishnan, Arunkumar Bagarvathi, and Shi Chen -
Twitter Communication During an Outbreak of Hepatitis A in San Diego, 2016-2018
Eyal Oren, Lourdes Martinez, R. Eliza Hensley, Purva Jain, Taufa Ahmed, Intan Purnajo, Atsushi Nara, and Ming-Hsiang Tsou
Response to misinformation eye-tracking study
Much of what is currently known about the public’s engagement with health information on social media is based on self-report; very few studies have utilized more objective measurement tools, such as eye tracking, to assess engagement with this type of information. In order to address this gap, HCIRB scientists conducted a mixed-methods study that used eye tracking, self-report measures, and interviews to examine how individuals interact with cancer-related health information (and misinformation) on social media platforms. Findings from this study could inform strategies for presenting evidence-based health information to the public via social media, in addition to generating insights on ways to counter health misinformation online.
Addressing the Challenges of Cancer Misinformation on Social Media. NCI Staff. Cancer Currents blog, National Cancer Institute. 2021.
United States. Public Health Service. Office of the Surgeon General. Confronting Health Misinformation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Building a Healthy Information Environment U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General. 2021.
Chou WS, Miller R. Cancer-Related Misinformation Online: How Bad Is It and What Should Oncologists Do About It?. ASCO. 2021.
Chou WS, Trivedi N, Peterson EB, Gaysynsky A, Krakow M, & Vraga E. How do social media users process cancer prevention messages on Facebook? An eye-tracking study. Patient Educ Couns. 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2020.01.013
Southwell BG, Niederdeppe J, Cappella JN, Gaysynsky A, Kelley DE, Oh A, Peterson EB, Chou WS. Am J Prev Med. Misinformation as a Misunderstood Challenge to Public Health. 2019. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.03.009
Chou WS, Oh A, Klein WMP. JAMA. Addressing health-related misinformation on social media. 2018. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.16865
Related Events
“Trust and Misinformation in the Age of Social Media”
An invitation-only working group meeting was held August 23-24, 2018, at the NCI Shady Grove Campus. The meeting leveraged scientific expertise from diverse disciplines and sectors (e.g., journalism, computer science, and health communication) to develop a research agenda for understanding and addressing cancer-related misinformation on social media platforms.
[1] Pew Research Center. “Americans Are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News”. October 2019. Available at: https://www.journalism.org/2019/10/02/americans-are-wary-of-the-role-social-media-sites-play-in-delivering-the-news/
[2] Sharma, M., Yadav, K., Yadav, N., & Ferdinand, K. C. (2017). Zika virus pandemic—analysis of Facebook as a social media health information platform. American journal of infection control, 45(3), 301-302; Oyeyemi, S. O., Gabarron, E., & Wynn, R. (2014). Ebola, Twitter, and misinformation: a dangerous combination?. BMJ, 349, g6178.
[3] Broniatowski, D. A., Jamison, A. M., Qi, S., AlKulaib, L., Chen, T., Benton, A., ... & Dredze, M. (2018). Weaponized health communication: Twitter bots and Russian trolls amplify the vaccine debate. American journal of public health, 108(10), 1378-1384.
[4] Newport, F. “Americans’ Confidence in Institutions Edges Up”. Gallup, Inc. June 26, 2017. Available at: https://news.gallup.com/poll/212840/americans-confidence-institutions-edges.aspx *