健康相关新闻报道中夸大事实与学术新闻稿中夸大事实的相关性：回顾性观察研究
英国卡迪夫大学
新南威尔士大学
澳洲伍伦贡大学
英国斯旺西大学
目的：找出新闻发布稿或新闻报道中对读者健康相关行为存在潜在影响，对事实进行歪曲和夸大、对主要研究结论进行篡改的源头。
设计：回顾性的质性内容分析。
背景：杂志文章、新闻发布稿、相关新闻报道以及模拟场景。
样本：2011年英国20家主要大学发布的关于生物医药和健康相关科学领域的新闻稿（462篇），以及与之相关的同行审阅研究论文和新闻报道（668篇）。
主要结局测量：对读者提出改变行为的建议、从相关研究引申为因果描述、将动物研究发现推及人类的现象，超越相关同行审阅的论文。
结果：40%（95%可信区间，33%～46%）的新闻发布稿包含夸张的健康建议，33%（26%～40%）的新闻稿将相关性变为因果关系陈述，36%（28%～46%）的新闻稿包含将动物研究发现推及人类。当新闻发布稿存在这些问题时，分别有58%（95%可信区间48%～68%）、81%（70%～93%）和86%（77%～95%）的新闻报道存在同样的问题；若新闻发布稿不存在这些问题时，则分别只有17%（10%～24%）、18%（9%～27%）和10%（0%～19%）的新闻报道存在同样的问题。每个类别比值比分别为6.5（95%可信区间3.5～12）、20（7.6～51）、56（15～211）。与此同时，没有证据表明夸张的新闻发布稿能够增加新闻报道。
结论：新闻报道中的夸张与新闻发布稿中的夸张密切相关。提高新闻发布稿的学术准确性可能是减少健康相关新闻误导的关键。
BMJ. 2014;349:g7015.
The association between exaggeration in health related science news and academic press releases: retrospective observational study.
Sumner P, Vivian-Griffiths S, Boivin J, Williams A, Venetis CA, Davies A, Ogden J, Whelan L, Hughes B, Dalton B, Boy F, Chambers CD.
Cardiff University, UK.
University of New South Wales, Australia.
University of Wollongong, Australia.
Swansea University, UK.
OBJECTIVE: To identify the source (press releases or news) of distortions, exaggerations, or changes to the main conclusions drawn from research that could potentially influence a reader's health related behaviour.
DESIGN: Retrospective quantitative content analysis.
SETTING: Journal articles, press releases, and related news, with accompanying simulations.
SAMPLE: Press releases (n = 462) on biomedical and health related science issued by 20 leading UK universities in 2011, alongside their associated peer reviewed research papers and news stories (n = 668).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Advice to readers to change behaviour, causal statements drawn from correlational research, and inference to humans from animal research that went beyond those in the associated peer reviewed papers.
RESULTS: 40% (95% confidence interval 33% to 46%) of the press releases contained exaggerated advice, 33% (26% to 40%) contained exaggerated causal claims, and 36% (28% to 46%) contained exaggerated inference to humans from animal research. When press releases contained such exaggeration, 58% (95% confidence interval 48% to 68%), 81% (70% to 93%), and 86% (77% to 95%) of news stories, respectively, contained similar exaggeration, compared with exaggeration rates of 17% (10% to 24%), 18% (9% to 27%), and 10% (0% to 19%) in news when the press releases were not exaggerated. Odds ratios for each category of analysis were 6.5 (95% confidence interval 3.5 to 12), 20 (7.6 to 51), and 56 (15 to 211). At the same time, there was little evidence that exaggeration in press releases increased the uptake of news.
CONCLUSIONS: Exaggeration in news is strongly associated with exaggeration in press releases. Improving the accuracy of academic press releases could represent a key opportunity for reducing misleading health related news.
PMID: 25498121
PMCID: PMC4262123
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.g7015