Doctors and nurses frequently try to discourage their patients from turning to the internet for answers. The scientific community needs to do its part to educate the public about key concepts in research, such as the difference between observational studies and higher-quality randomized trials. News sites are more likely to cover catchy observational studies than randomized controlled trials, perhaps because the latter are less likely to produce surprising results. The boomerang effect, in which people become even more entrenched in false beliefs when presented with facts, can also occur when medical misconceptions are challenged. To have any chance at winning the information war, physicians and researchers need to weave our science with stories.

Source: New York Times December 17, 2018 00:00 UTC