Yuxi Wang|Martin McKee|Aleksandra Torbica|David Stuckler
Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media
Bocconi University|London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine|Bocconi University|Bocconi University
contemporary commentators describe current period era fake news misinformation generated intentionally unintentionally spreads rapidly although affecting areas life poses particular problems health arena delay prevent effective care cases threatening lives individuals examples rapid spread misinformation date back earliest days scientific medicine internet allowing instantaneous communication powerful amplification brought quantum change democracies ideas compete marketplace attention accurate scientific information may difficult comprehend even dull easily crowded sensationalized news order uncover current evidence better understand mechanism misinformation spread report systematic review nature potential drivers healthrelated misinformation searched pubmed cochrane web science scopus google databases identify relevant methodological empirical articles published 2012 2018 total 57 articles included fulltext analysis overall observe increasing trend published articles healthrelated misinformation role social media propagation extensively studied topics involving misinformation relate vaccination ebola zika virus although others nutrition cancer fluoridation water smoking also featured studies adopted theoretical frameworks psychology network science cocitation analysis revealed potential greater collaboration across fields studies employed content analysis social network analysis experiments drawing disparate disciplinary paradigms future research examine susceptibility different sociodemographic groups misinformation understand role belief systems intention spread misinformation interdisciplinary research also warranted identify effective tailored interventions counter spread healthrelated misinformation online