April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Conflicting Health Information and Its Influence on Cancer Prevention: Social Media Use and Trust as Positive Mediators
Introduction
Impactful cancer prevention relies on trustworthy health information (NCI, 2015). Social media has been blamed for widely shifting and inaccurate information (Cinelli et al., 2020), or “infodemic” (WHO, 2023). However, social media have the potential to motivate cancer screening behaviors while individuals navigate conflicting health information (Plackett et al., 2020). Using the O1-S-O2-R model (Kim et al., 2023; Markus & Zajonc, 1985), the objective of this study is to test the mediating roles of social media use and trust in information sources in the association between individuals’ exposure to conflicting health information and intention to receive a cancer screening in the next year.
Methods
This study used the HINTS 6, where one adult was selected from each household (n=6,252) (HINTS 6, 2022). Multiple and logistic regressions from the weighted sample estimated regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and odds ratios (OR) for associations, respectively. Associations include the perception of health recommendations from experts conflicting (O1), the use of social media in seeking and sharing health information (S), trust in cancer information from doctors, government health agencies, and scientists (O2), and intention to receive cancer screening tests within the next year (R). Models were adjusted for age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, income, insurance status, and general health status.
Results
The total weighted sample size was 258,418,467. Individuals who find health recommendations from experts stable (i.e., not conflicting) are less likely (OR=0.410, p<0.05, 95%CI 0.186, 0.903) to seek or share health information via social media. Light social media users are less likely to trust cancer information when it comes from doctors (B=-0.124, p<0.05 95%CI -0.202, -0.045), government health agencies (B=-0.124, p<0.05, 95%CI -0.223, -0.024), and scientists (B=-0.104, p<0.05, 95%CI -0.196, -0.012). Individuals who have lower levels of trust in cancer information from doctors (OR=0.442, p<0.05, 95%CI 0.255, 0.765), government health agencies (OR= 0.369, p<0.001, 95%CI 0.244, 0.559), and scientists (OR=0.620, p<.05, 95%CI 0.388, 0.992) are less likely to get screened for cancer in the next year. A PROCESS mediation model (Hayes, 2022) with a 5,000 bootstrapping sample found a significant indirect effect (effect=.0002, BootLLCI=.0001, BootULCI=.0005): The perception of health recommendations from experts being conflict was a positive, marginally significant predictor of social media use (coefficient=.1156, p=.08, LLCI=-.0148, ULCI=0.2459), generating higher trust in cancer information from government health agencies (coefficient=.0104, p<.05, LLCI=.0015, ULCI=.0193), and in turn, higher behavioral intention (coefficient=.1275, p<.01, LLCI=.0370, ULCI=.2181).
Discussion
Guided by the O1-S-O2-R model, this study found a mediating role of social media use in cognitive and behavioral processes involved in cancer information. The findings of this study imply that it might not be fair to consider heavy social media use the culprit for misinformation (Muhammed T & Mathew, 2022); in fact, it may reflect individuals’ motivation to find and consume quality cancer information (Pagoto et al., 2019). Developing and implementing social media algorithms to prioritize cancer information from doctors, government, and scientists, in collaboration with social media platforms, healthcare systems, academia, and government health agencies, will be a key to increasing preventive exams.
Impactful cancer prevention relies on trustworthy health information (NCI, 2015). Social media has been blamed for widely shifting and inaccurate information (Cinelli et al., 2020), or “infodemic” (WHO, 2023). However, social media have the potential to motivate cancer screening behaviors while individuals navigate conflicting health information (Plackett et al., 2020). Using the O1-S-O2-R model (Kim et al., 2023; Markus & Zajonc, 1985), the objective of this study is to test the mediating roles of social media use and trust in information sources in the association between individuals’ exposure to conflicting health information and intention to receive a cancer screening in the next year.
Methods
This study used the HINTS 6, where one adult was selected from each household (n=6,252) (HINTS 6, 2022). Multiple and logistic regressions from the weighted sample estimated regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and odds ratios (OR) for associations, respectively. Associations include the perception of health recommendations from experts conflicting (O1), the use of social media in seeking and sharing health information (S), trust in cancer information from doctors, government health agencies, and scientists (O2), and intention to receive cancer screening tests within the next year (R). Models were adjusted for age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, income, insurance status, and general health status.
Results
The total weighted sample size was 258,418,467. Individuals who find health recommendations from experts stable (i.e., not conflicting) are less likely (OR=0.410, p<0.05, 95%CI 0.186, 0.903) to seek or share health information via social media. Light social media users are less likely to trust cancer information when it comes from doctors (B=-0.124, p<0.05 95%CI -0.202, -0.045), government health agencies (B=-0.124, p<0.05, 95%CI -0.223, -0.024), and scientists (B=-0.104, p<0.05, 95%CI -0.196, -0.012). Individuals who have lower levels of trust in cancer information from doctors (OR=0.442, p<0.05, 95%CI 0.255, 0.765), government health agencies (OR= 0.369, p<0.001, 95%CI 0.244, 0.559), and scientists (OR=0.620, p<.05, 95%CI 0.388, 0.992) are less likely to get screened for cancer in the next year. A PROCESS mediation model (Hayes, 2022) with a 5,000 bootstrapping sample found a significant indirect effect (effect=.0002, BootLLCI=.0001, BootULCI=.0005): The perception of health recommendations from experts being conflict was a positive, marginally significant predictor of social media use (coefficient=.1156, p=.08, LLCI=-.0148, ULCI=0.2459), generating higher trust in cancer information from government health agencies (coefficient=.0104, p<.05, LLCI=.0015, ULCI=.0193), and in turn, higher behavioral intention (coefficient=.1275, p<.01, LLCI=.0370, ULCI=.2181).
Discussion
Guided by the O1-S-O2-R model, this study found a mediating role of social media use in cognitive and behavioral processes involved in cancer information. The findings of this study imply that it might not be fair to consider heavy social media use the culprit for misinformation (Muhammed T & Mathew, 2022); in fact, it may reflect individuals’ motivation to find and consume quality cancer information (Pagoto et al., 2019). Developing and implementing social media algorithms to prioritize cancer information from doctors, government, and scientists, in collaboration with social media platforms, healthcare systems, academia, and government health agencies, will be a key to increasing preventive exams.