Introduction: The
distribution of health information through online media is common. Online media
provides easy access and can be forwarded freely. However,
incorrect information may cause harm to readers; therefore, content evaluation
is needed. Currently,
the study on characteristics and reliability
of health information on social media is limited. In addition, there is no
appropriate tool for assessing
online health information. This research comprises of
three objectives: (1) to analyze the characteristics
and reliability of health articles on Thai social media through
various assessments according to the criteria set by the researcher, (2) to enable the
public and public health personnel to know and be aware about the current
situation of characteristics and reliability
of health articles on Thai social media and (3) to provide the publisher
a set of article quality assessment tool to be applied prior to article
publication. Methods: This study
examined health articles that were published between January 1st and
December 31st, 2018 from two selected Thai popular websites. A total of
263 articles were included in this study. The analysis
of characteristics and reliability of health articles was
performed on 6 aspects (22 criteria) of quality
assessment tool developed by the researchers. Results: Most health articles on Thai social
media have the overall characteristics and reliability
at the good and moderate levels
(45.25% and 35.36%, respectively). Articles that need improvement
account for 11.41% while only 7.98% are the
outstanding ones. Regarding the
content validity and accuracy, most articles (90.53%) are well
supported by reliable references; however, many articles contain some mistakes
on facts and suggestions. Among 22
features of quality assessment, many articles failed to reach an acceptable
level in 8 areas: presence of a
conclusion section; proper use of supporting figures, graphs or tables; clear
explanation of supporting
figures, graphs or tables; author disclosure; validity of citations; accuracy
of facts; accuracy of suggestions and proper explanation of practical
suggestions. Conclusions: Health
articles on Thai websites potentially lack inspection in some aspects. Most articles
are partially correct and some article
characteristics may be further
improved. Readers can
benefit more if publishers adopt our article characteristics and reliability
assessment tool to check
and revise health
articles prior to web publishing.Introduction: The distribution of health
information through online media is common. Online media provides easy
access and can be forwarded freely. However, incorrect information
may cause harm to readers; therefore, content evaluation is needed. Currently, the study on
characteristics and reliability of health information on social media is
limited. In addition, there is no
appropriate tool for assessing online health information.This research comprises of two objectives: (1) to develop a tool to assess article format and reliability
of online health articles and (2) to analyze article format and
reliability of health articles published in two Thai websites. Methods: This study examined health
articles that were published between January 1st and December 31st, 2018 from two selected Thai popular
websites. A total of 263 articles were included in this
study. The analysis of characteristics
and reliability of health articles was performed on 6 aspects (22 criteria) of quality assessment tool
developed by the researchers. Results: Most health articles on Thai
social media have the overall characteristics and reliability at the good and
moderate levels (4445..2549% and 3335..436%, respectively). Articles that need improvement
account for 131.341%
while
only 87.74598%
are
the outstanding ones. Regarding the content validity
and accuracy, most articles (90.5349%) are well supported by reliable
references; however, many articles contain some mistakes on facts and
suggestions. Among 2222 features of
quality assessment, many articles failed to reach an acceptable level in 8 areas: presence of a conclusion
section; proper use of supporting figures, graphs or tables; clear explanation
of supporting figures, graphs or tables; author disclosure; validity of
citations; proper explanation of practical suggestions; accuracy of facts accuracy of
suggestions. Conclusions: Health articles on Thai
websites potentially lack inspection in some aspects. Most articles are partially
correct and some article characteristics may be further improved. Readers can benefit more if
publishers adopt our article characteristics and reliability assessment tool to
check and revise health articles prior to web publishing.
|