News coverage and online advertising effects on patient-led search for aspirin, heart health, and stroke information and educational tool use.
Brian G Southwell, Milton Eder, John Finnegan and 5 others
PMID 32798081WHAT IT FOUND
Patients' use of an aspirin website was linked to campaign ads and Minnesota news stories, while their online searches were linked to news stories, not ads.
Some stories reported no benefit, harm, or side effects.
Key findings
01Weekly engagement with the Ask About Aspirin web tool was associated with campaign advertising expenditure and with weekly newswire stories carrying a Minnesota byline, but not with the weekly newswire story count for references to aspirin and heart health research.
02Weekly Minnesota searches for aspirin and heart were associated with the weekly newswire story count for references to aspirin and heart health research, but not with campaign advertising expenditure.
03Among 83 newswire stories mentioning aspirin and heart, 64% referred to a potential relationship between aspirin use and heart health; among those stories, 21% mentioned research finding no effect or a negative effect, and 32% mentioned potential aspirin side effects.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study did not ask patients what they saw or thought, and it inferred links from weekly aggregate counts over time. It assumed exposure leads to behavior and did not test message reactance or negative relationships. Google Trends data were aggregated for Minnesota and could not be separated by demographics, including the age group sought by the campaign. The analysis covered one topic, one state, and one period, and it does not show whether the pattern applies to other areas, topics, or times. Only 83 newswire stories were coded, with weekly counts from 0 to 7.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural as a publication type. It does not provide a conflicts-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these links as proof that advertising or news caused patient behavior. The study inferred relationships from weekly aggregate counts over time and did not measure patients' perceptions of ads or stories.