Evaluation of the Type and Authenticity of Information on Instagram Posts Related to Hepatitis: A Cross-sectional Study
LC07-LC09
Correspondence
Dr. Anna Mary Jose,
Medical Officer, Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (DMIMSDU), Sawangi (Meghe)-442001, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: annamaryjose0109@gmail.com
Introduction: Hepatitis is a major public health concern. The social media platform, allows for the unregulated dispersion of information related to many public diseases, even by unverified accounts that are easily accessible to the population. Dispersion of unverified and unregulated information about major health conditions like “Hepatitis” by Instagram, an easily-accessible and popular social media platform, can put public health at risk.
Aim: To evaluate the type and authenticity of the information available on Instagram related to the disease “Hepatitis”.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted virtually over a period of 10 days in August 2022. Top four “Hepatitis” related hashtags on Instagram identified by the maximum number of posts- (#hepatitis, #hepatitisawareness, #hepatitistreatment, and #hepatitisa) were taken in the present study. Posts in language “English” or “Hindi” and containing information about the disease “Hepatitis” were included in the study. A questionnaire was made for assessment of these posts based on various pre-determined categories- type of post, type of information circulated and to assess if it is “true”, “false” or “cannot be determined” using World Health Organisation (WHO) factsheet on hepatitis and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
Results: Out of the top 400 posts analysed, 388 (97%) were found relevant to the study. These posts had information related to the description {274 (70.62%)}, prevalence {95 (24.48%)}, aetiology {233 (60.05%)}, prevention {172 (44.33%)}, treatment {75 (19.33%)} and mortality {72 (18.56%)} of the disease “hepatitis.” A large number of posts {314 (80.93%)}, had authentic information about the disease.
Conclusion: Although, a large number of Instagram posts related to the disease “Hepatitis” has authentic information and were posted by doctors and the health and wellness industry, these accounts could not be verified. Government and the national medical association should join hands to create a platform to deliver authentic information to the population related to “Hepatitis” and verify the already available information.