When Kim Kardashian recently posted about having a full-body MRI, she highlighted its potential as a “life-saving” test for early disease detection. However, this claim lacks evidence for healthy individuals. A new study published in the JAMA Network Open analyzed nearly 1,000 Instagram and TikTok posts on five popular medical tests that carry significant risks of overdiagnosis and unnecessary diagnoses.
The tests examined include full-body MRI scans, fertility tests, multi-cancer early detection blood tests, gut microbiome tests, and testosterone testing. The overwhelming majority of posts were misleading, failing to mention potential harms such as overdiagnosis, unnecessary diagnoses, and costly treatments.
Only 15% of posts discussed the risk of overdiagnosis, while 34% used personal stories to promote the tests. Furthermore, 68% of influencers had financial interests in promoting the tests, with medical doctors being slightly more balanced in their posts.
The study’s findings add to growing evidence that social media is a breeding ground for misleading health information. To combat this issue, experts propose pre-bunking strategies and stronger regulation to prevent the creation and sharing of misinformation. If you’re unsure about the validity of a medical test promoted by an influencer, it’s likely too good (or bad) to be true.
Source: https://theconversation.com/we-analysed-almost-1-000-social-media-posts-about-5-popular-medical-tests-most-were-utterly-misleading-247362