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The internet, social media and video providers (like TikToc and YouTube) present a wide array of health information, and seeking online health information (OHI) has become a common practice globally [Zhang, 2021]. Growing largely unregulated and organically, OHI is easily accessible and searchable and is often the first stop for many people for more information on medical symptoms, especially if professional medical support is expensive or not readily available. It is also often accessed after a doctor-provided diagnosis, for more information and to check for options beyond those provided by the medical professional. There is a suggestion that particularly younger people are moving away from doctor-provided health information to greater reliance on internet sources. However, the unregulated and open nature of information on the internet and social media sites can also lead to misinformation.
The advent of OHI creates challenges for healthcare professionals who can face misinformed but determined patients. Many in the population rely on OHI, which may be low quality. They themselves may have poor health information literacy but are trying to manage their own and other’s health without sufficient knowledge/skills to identify misinformation and disinformation.
This podcast will discuss engaging with patients who believe contentious and misleading health information, specifically relating to thyroid disorders. It will also expalin how patients are using OHI, how their social demographic influences their use, how to direct patients to sources of information which are trustworthy (for example, YouTube videos from government organizations and professional associations) and to debunk myths promoted on some online health sites.
This podcast will focus on internet health information for thyroid disorders, but the content will be highly applicable to other disease areas.
After listening to this podcast, participants will be able to:
Clinicians involved in endocrinology, particularly thyroid disorders and general practice; some content of interest to pediatricians, biochemists, clinical and research scientists, and those involved in pre-natal, pregnancy and post-natal care.
English with voice-over into Spanish and Chinese
Martin Savage is Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London. He was head of the Paediatric Endocrine Unit at Barts and the London School of Medicine from 1982 to 2007. He has interests in growth disorders, specifically those with abnormalities in the GH-IGF-1 axis and in phenotype-genotype relationships of GH-IGF-1 axis defects, notably GH resistance. He published the first human case of an IGF-1 gene defect in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1996. His other interests are Cushing’s syndrome and growth in chronic inflammatory diseases. He was General Secretary of the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) from 1997 to 2004. He has lectured in 60 countries and has published 482 original articles, reviews, textbook chapters and books. In 2007, he was awarded the ESPE Andrea Prader Prize for contributions to paediatric endocrinology and in 2018 he received a Visionary Award from the American Human Growth Foundation. In 2022, he received a Research Excellence Award from the Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal in Riyadh, and the British Society of Paediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes James M. Tanner Lifetime Achievement Award. He continues to lecture nationally and internationally.
Trevor E Angell, MD is Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes and the Associate Medical Director of the Thyroid Center at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Dr. Angell’s clinical and research interests span all thyroid disease, with a focus on the diagnosis and management of nodules and cancer. His past research includes the immune phenotype of thyroid cancers, and substantial clinical research on the optimal management of thyroid nodules. His current research focuses on the immune cell interactions in autoimmune thyroid diseases, including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and immune-checkpoint inhibitor induced thyroiditis. He is a current member of the American Thyroid Association’s thyroid nodule guidelines taskforce, and a past chair of the Patient Affairs & Education Committee. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Thyroidology. He also is committed to medical education, serving as an associate program director for the USC and Los Angeles General internal medicine residency program. He is a member of the Endocrine Society’s In-Training Examination Steering Committee and is an organizer for local and national CME events.
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