It seems as though every time you turn around medical news is reported in the popular media. With the hype surrounding some of these reports, it can be tempting to take the information at face value. However, for your safety and the safety of your loved ones and your patients, it is important to look critically at medical news.
If you ask the following questions about the studies reported on in the media, you’ll be better able to distinguish between potentially useful and potentially useless information. (For a more in-depth explanation of the points listed below, check out The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting through the Hype about Your Health by Robert J. Davis, PhD. available at both the St. Elizabeth Hospital and Mercy Medical Center libraries.)
What kind of study is being reported on?
There are numerous types of studies that serve different research aims. In terms of applying study findings to your situation, randomized clinical trials and cohort studies can be considered most credible, while test-tube research and animal studies are not as credible.
How big is the effect of the study?
As a general rule of thumb, the larger the effect, the more you can believe in the results.
Could the findings be a fluke?
If the study outcome can be chalked up to chance, the results might not be as reliable.
Who was studied?
This is an important question to ask if you want to discover whether a study’s findings might apply to you.
Is there a good explanation for the results?
If study findings don’t make sense biologically, you should exercise caution in interpreting the results.
Who paid for the research?
Much research is funded by organizations with vested interest in the outcome. While findings of such studies aren’t always suspicious, you’d be more able to trust findings of studies funded by entities that don’t stand to profit from the results.
Was the study peer reviewed?
Having outside experts in the field scrutinize the results can add an extra layer of credibility to a study.
How does this study square with other studies?
Research does not often stand on its own. How does this study fit with others that came before it? Are the findings consistent?
Your Affinity librarians can help. If you see or read a medical news report and would like to know if the information is reliable, we can do the research and look for answers to the questions above.
Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) if you, a loved one, or one of your patients needs help finding information or using the library resources that will help them to become wise health consumers.
