Accuracy of Health Research Reported in the Popular Press: Breast Cancer and Mammography

The print media's dissemination of health information is important in shaping public beliefs and possibly behavior. Print media reports, some of them conflicting, concerning breast cancer and mammography have been prominent, leading to an intense and confused public reaction. This investigation evaluated the accuracy of popular accounts of research pertaining to breast cancer and mammography appearing in magazines and newspapers during a 2-year period. The reports were evaluated in two ways: (a) the adequacy of the information provided for locating the cited piece of research and (b) the accuracy of the information conveyed about the research. For the latter analysis, discrepancies between the original scientific publication and the popular account were categorized. In 116 articles, there were 113 citations to a scientific study; 60 of these citations were traceable to the original source. Of these 60 traceable citations, 42 content-based inaccuracies were found. The results are discussed in terms of implications for communication between the scientific community and journalists.