Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Feb 16, 2022
Date Accepted: Jun 27, 2022
The Development of PRinciples for Health-related Information on Social Media (PHRISM): A Delphi study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Health-related misinformation can be propagated via social media and is a danger to public health. A number of quality assessment tools and principles to evaluate health-related information in the public domain exist, however, were not designed specifically for social media.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to develop PRinciples for Health-related Information on Social Media (PRHISM) that can be used to evaluate the quality of health-related social media content.
Methods:
A modified Delphi approach was used to gain expert consensus on the principles and the functions of PRHISM. Health and social media experts were recruited via Twitter, email and snowballing. Three surveys were administered between February and May 2021. The first survey was informed by a literature review and included open-ended questions and items from existing quality assessment tools. Subsequent surveys were informed by the results to the proceeding survey. Consensus was deemed if ≥80% agreement was reached and items with consensus were considered relevant to include in PRHISM. After the third survey principles were finalised and an instruction manual and scoring tool for PRHISM was developed and circulated to expert participants for final feedback.
Results:
Thirty-four experts consented to participate and 18 responded to all three Delphi surveys. Thirteen principles were considered relevant and were included in PRHISM. When the instructions and PRHISM scoring tool were circulated, no objections to the wording of the final principles were received.
Conclusions:
Thirteen quality principles are included in the PRHISM tool, along with a scoring system and implementation tool. The principles promote accessibility, transparency, provision of authoritative and evidence-based information and providing support for consumers’ relationships with healthcare providers. PRHISM can be used to evaluate the quality of health-related information provided on social media. The principles may also be useful to content creators for developing high-quality health-related social media content and assist consumers in discerning high- from low-quality information.
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