Patients trust social media over docs for health information

Fewer than half of American patients consider their healthcare provider their top source for health information, according to a new YouGov and Healthline Media poll, signaling a shift in consumer healthcare behavior and patient trust.

The survey of more than 4,000 adult patients showed that only 37% of patients consider their doctor their preferred choice for health information and education. Instead, they're turning to social media.

These findings come as healthcare industry professionals grapple with patient trust, patient education and public health communication. Patient trust in medical providers and public health officials has dwindled since the COVID-19 pandemic, as patients began to embrace online resources to learn more about their health and well-being.

But the internet is rife with medical misinformation, presenting a key challenge for healthcare experts.

This latest survey showed that patients are still turning to social media to learn more about healthy behaviors and wellness trends, such as those related to physical well-being, like taking a pre- or probiotic, weight loss, hair health, skin care and dental health.

Among those who have adopted a new health or wellness trend in the past 12 months, 52% of them learned about those habits from social media. This is more common among men than women, with 57% of men citing social media as the source of their health information compared to 48% of women.

YouTube is coming in as a key provider of health information, with a third of men saying they learned about health and wellness tools or trends from the platform.

Preference for social media as a purveyor of health information was also more common among younger patients. About two-thirds of Gen Z (67%) and millennial (63%) patients said they'd learned about a health or wellness tool or trend using social media.

Healthline Media experts said the preference for social media is likely because patients find so-called influencers more relatable than their healthcare providers, so they are more likely to trust them.

"It is human nature for people to take their advice from the most relatable sources, not necessarily the most reliable, which is how misinformation spreads," said Jenny Yu, M.D., the chief medical officer at Healthline Media.

Although patients are more likely to seek health information on social media, they aren't always impressed with the advice, the survey continued, with 77% expressing a negative view about health and wellness trends shared via social media. Women and younger patients were more likely to have a positive view about the medical advice they find online, while those with a chronic illness are more likely to harbor a negative view.

Healthcare providers might consider discussing online resources for health information with their patients to better understand what kind of information -- or misinformation -- patients consume. Additionally, providing patients with the health literacy skills to parse fact from fiction and access reputable online sources will be key.