Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review
Objectives To synthesise the available evidence on the reporting of conflicts of interest (COI) by individuals posting health messages on social media, and on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Data sources MEDLINE (OVID) (2005–March 2022), Embase (2...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2023-08-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/8/e072258.full |
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| author | Dana Al Oweini Elie A Akl Joanne Khabsa Layal Hneiny Hussein A Noureldine Vanessa Helou Fatima Mouzahem Adham Makarem Rayane El-Khoury Razan Halak |
| author_facet | Dana Al Oweini Elie A Akl Joanne Khabsa Layal Hneiny Hussein A Noureldine Vanessa Helou Fatima Mouzahem Adham Makarem Rayane El-Khoury Razan Halak |
| author_sort | Dana Al Oweini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives To synthesise the available evidence on the reporting of conflicts of interest (COI) by individuals posting health messages on social media, and on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Data sources MEDLINE (OVID) (2005–March 2022), Embase (2005–March 2022) and Google Scholar (2005–August 2022), supplemented with a review of reference lists and forward citation tracking.Design Reviewers selected eligible studies and abstracted data in duplicate and independently. We appraised the quality of the included studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We summarised the results in both narrative and tabular formats. We followed the PRISMA 2020 checklist for reporting our study.Results Of a total of 16 645 retrieved citations, we included 17 eligible studies. The frequency of reporting of conflicts of interest varied between 0% and 60%, but it was mostly low. In addition, a significant proportion, ranging between 15% and 80%, of healthcare professionals using social media have financial relationships with industry. However, three studies assessed the proportion of conflicts of interest of physicians identified through Open Payment Database but not reported by the authors. It was found that 98.7–100% of these relationships with industry are not reported when communicating health-related information. Also, two studies showed that there is evidence of a potential association between COI and the content of posting. No data was found on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Conclusions While a significant proportion of healthcare professionals using social media have financial relationships with industry, lack of reporting on COI and undisclosed COI are common. We did not find studies on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Trial registration dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl8jj4rg2w/v1. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f91deec994464facb9ec91179b04c97c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-f91deec994464facb9ec91179b04c97c2024-11-15T04:30:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552023-08-0113810.1136/bmjopen-2023-072258Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic reviewDana Al Oweini0Elie A Akl1Joanne Khabsa2Layal Hneiny3Hussein A Noureldine4Vanessa Helou5Fatima Mouzahem6Adham Makarem7Rayane El-Khoury8Razan Halak9Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, LebanonDepartment of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanonsenior research assistantWegner Health Sciences Information Center, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USAGilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon4 Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, LebanonFaculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, LebanonFaculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, LebanonInfectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation - Education City, Doha, QatarFaculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, LebanonObjectives To synthesise the available evidence on the reporting of conflicts of interest (COI) by individuals posting health messages on social media, and on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Data sources MEDLINE (OVID) (2005–March 2022), Embase (2005–March 2022) and Google Scholar (2005–August 2022), supplemented with a review of reference lists and forward citation tracking.Design Reviewers selected eligible studies and abstracted data in duplicate and independently. We appraised the quality of the included studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We summarised the results in both narrative and tabular formats. We followed the PRISMA 2020 checklist for reporting our study.Results Of a total of 16 645 retrieved citations, we included 17 eligible studies. The frequency of reporting of conflicts of interest varied between 0% and 60%, but it was mostly low. In addition, a significant proportion, ranging between 15% and 80%, of healthcare professionals using social media have financial relationships with industry. However, three studies assessed the proportion of conflicts of interest of physicians identified through Open Payment Database but not reported by the authors. It was found that 98.7–100% of these relationships with industry are not reported when communicating health-related information. Also, two studies showed that there is evidence of a potential association between COI and the content of posting. No data was found on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Conclusions While a significant proportion of healthcare professionals using social media have financial relationships with industry, lack of reporting on COI and undisclosed COI are common. We did not find studies on the reporting of funding sources of studies cited in health messages on social media.Trial registration dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl8jj4rg2w/v1.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/8/e072258.full |
| spellingShingle | Dana Al Oweini Elie A Akl Joanne Khabsa Layal Hneiny Hussein A Noureldine Vanessa Helou Fatima Mouzahem Adham Makarem Rayane El-Khoury Razan Halak Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review BMJ Open |
| title | Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review |
| title_full | Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review |
| title_short | Conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media: a systematic review |
| title_sort | conflict of interest and funding in health communication on social media a systematic review |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/8/e072258.full |
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