How to read articles about healthcare

Format: 2-2 Comparison groups should be similar

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Language/s: 3-6 Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

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Resource Link: View the Text

Target Audience: 2-9 Reviews of fair comparisons should be systematic

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Short Description:

This article 'How to read health news behind the headlines', by Dr Alicia White, explains how to assess health claims in the media.

Key Concepts addressed:

• Deutsche
• Greek
• 1-3 Association is not the same as causation
• 2-13 Relative measures of effects can be misleading
• 2-14 Average measures of effects can be misleading
• 2-15 Fair comparisons with few people or outcome events can be misleading

Details

This article ‘How to read health news behind the Headlines’, by Dr Alicia White, explains how to assess health claims in the media.

The most important rule to remember is: don’t automatically believe the headline. It is there to draw you into buying the paper and reading the story. Would you read an article called: “Coffee pretty unlikely to cause cancer, but you never know”? Probably not.  You need to analyse the article to see what it says about the research it is reporting on.

Read the article here