The Media's influence on the validity of medical information regarding Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

This article aims to statistically analyze misinformation regarding dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) on the internet and discuss common trends amongst falsities. The internet is the most common source of medical information and is largely used by the general public to seek information about a condition/treatment. Dementia is one of the most searched conditions across online platforms. AD is the most common cause of dementia in the US and accounts for 75% of dementia cases. As the prevalence of AD increases, more patients turn to the media to seek information about its implications and treatments. With the increasingly important role that media plays in the field of medicine, families need to be aware of potential sources of misinformation. This paper analyzes one hundred total sources, then categorizes each source into one of three groups (with varying degrees of falsities): misleading, partially misleading, and reliable. The sources were collected using the keywords “Alzheimer’s disease” and included 50 videos from YouTube and 25 recommended sources from Google and Firefox respectively (Google and Firefox are some of the most used web browsers in the USA). Subsequently, a misinformed source was thematically classified based on the type of misinformation found. To verify results, all sources were reviewed by a senior geropsychiatric consultant from London, who specializes in dementia care/treatment. [Further elaborated in ‘methods’ section]

The results indicate that there is systematic misinformation on the internet. It highlights the importance of patient awareness towards this issue. On this basis, it should be recommended that provider’s offices alert their patients of this problem.