Journal of Education and Health Promotion

A survey on scientific authenticity of health information in Iranian popular magazines: A case study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Ourfa Hovsepyan
. Firoozeh Zare_Farashbandi 1
. Gholamreza Askari 2
. Akbar Hassanzadeh 3

1 Health Information Technology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

2 Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

3 Department of Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: The content of the mass media is a suitable tool for making changes to the society.
One of the most read news in the mass media is nutritional information. The goal of this study is to
assess the scientific authenticity of such information published in Iranian popular magazines.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a qualitative study (content analysis) and uses
bibliographic approach. A researcher‑designed checklist is used as data gathering tool, and the
statistical population included the messages obtained from the printed material in 173 volumes
of 8 Iranian popular magazines. 10 most frequent messages were identified, and their scientific
authenticity was investigated using Pubmed and IranMedex databases. The SPSS Software
version 24 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, New York, USA) was applied in the analysis of this work.
RESULTS: The findings indicated that preventive trends had the highest (86.8%) and the treatments
had the lowest (4.2%) frequency. Concerning the type of cancer, more than half (51.2%) of the
conclusions were about cancer. Regarding authorship, 68% of articles were author signed, but the
profession of 66.4% of the authors was not clear. Regarding references, only 25.4% of the articles
had validated references.
CONCLUSION: It is revealed that 70% of the “nutrition information” related to cancer which was
published in the popular magazines during 2012, considered to be acceptable according to scientific
medical information sources. Although in some cases, the amount of evidence is not sufficient.
Finally, it could be deduced that the nutrition information published in the Iranian popular magazines
are still credible.

Keywords

Authenticity
cancer
health information
Iran
nutrition
popular magazines
validity
1. Macnamara J. Media content analysis: Its uses, benefits and best
practice methodology. Asia Pac Public Relat J 2005;6:1‑34.
2. Ashoorkhani M, Majdzadeh R. Improving the quality of health
news. Int J Prev Med 2012;3:440‑3.
3. Fernández‑Celemín L, JungA. What should be the role of the media
in nutrition communication? Br J Nutr 2006;96 Suppl 1:S86‑8.
4. van Trigt AM, de Jong‑van den Berg LT, Voogt LM, Willems J,
Tromp TF, Haaijer‑Ruskamp FM. Setting the agenda: Does the
medical literature set the agenda for articles about medicines in
the newspapers? Soc Sci Med 1995;41:893‑9.
5. Zare‑Farashbandi F, Hovsepyan O. Scientifical vs. popular:
Necessity of assessing the scientific authenticity of health
information in media. Health Inf Manage 2014;11:135‑7.
6. Swann C, Carmona C, Ryan M, Raynor M, Barıs E, Dunsdon S,
et al. Health systmes and health‑related behaviour change:
A review of primary and secondary evidence. Copenhagen:National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; 2010.
7. Ashorkhani M, Gholami J, Maleki K, Nedjat S, Mortazavi J,
Majdzadeh R. Quality of health news disseminated in the print
media in developing countries: A case study in Iran. BMC Public
Health 2012;12:627.
8. Larsson A, Oxman AD, Carling C, Herrin J. Medical messages
in the media – Barriers and solutions to improving medical
journalism. Health Expect 2003;6:323‑31.
9. Hovsepyan O. A Survey on Scientific Authenticity among
Nutritional Information Related to Cancer in Iranian Popular
Magazines during 2012 [Dissertation]. Isfahan: Isfahan University
of Medical Sciences; 2014.
10. Mohammadpour Ahranjani B, Abdollahi M, Pakravan M.
Nutritional messages in Iranian newspapers: A content analysis.
Payesh 2003;1:63‑71.
11. Niknam M, Azadbakht L. Nutrition and gastric cancer:
A review of epidemiologic evidences. Health Syst Res
2012;8:724‑38.
12. Shokri Mashhadi N, Azadbakht L. Food groups and breast cancer:
A review of current evidence. Health Syst Res 2012;8:739‑47.
13. Moynihan R, Bero L, Ross‑Degnan D, Henry D, Lee K, Watkins J,
et al. Coverage by the news media of the benefits and risks of
medications. N Engl J Med 2000;342:1645‑50.
14. Shaw P, Zhang V, Metallinos‑Katsaras E. A content analysis of
the quantity and accuracy of dietary supplement information
found in magazines with high adolescent readership. J Altern
Complement Med 2009;15:159‑64.
15. Salzman N. Nutrition and the News: An Analysis of Nutrition
Coverage on the Today Show Dissertation; 2011.
16. Shahar S, Shirley N, Noah SA. Quality and accuracy assessment
of nutrition information on the Web for cancer prevention. Inform
Health Soc Care 2013;38:15‑26.
17. Hovsepyan O, Zare‑Farashbandi F, Askari G. A survey on
cancer‑related nutritional information in Iranian popular
magazines. J Educ Health Promot 2015;4:102.
18. Brooklyn MRLo. Guide to Research Methods. SUNY Downstate
Medical Center; 2012. Available from: http://www.library.
downstate.edu/EBM2/2100.htm. [Last accessed on 2013 Sep 20].
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 8, Issue 2
February 2018
Pages 1-8

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us