Impact of Social Media on dissemination of cardiovascular health information in the general population: A cross sectional study

Sandeep Kumar Reddy Bandakadi,
Abhishek Narasimhulu,
Ria Singh Rawat,
Saisree Konda,
Sree Harshitha Vallabhaneni,
MANKIRAT KAUR*

Abstract

Introduction : Cardiovascular diseases are known to be the leading cause of death annually worldwide with an estimated 17.9 million lives each year. Cardiovascular diseases are common in the age group 40-59 years, who coincidentally, are becoming increasingly active users of social media platforms and help to disseminate information amongst their peers. The study aimed to identify whether the information circulating on social media regarding cardiovascular diseases is pertinent and trust-worthy. Methods and Material: A web-based study was conducted with the formulation of an elaborate questionnaire. The data was analyzed in Microsoft Excel Sheet which was then used for the analysis of the data obtained. Results: The study identified 457 relevant posts in total of which 386 (84.46%) were in the form of posts and 71 (15.53%) composed of video content. Conclusions: Our analysis revealed that only 204 (44.63%) of the total relevant posts featured descriptions of cardiac arrest, while the remaining 253 (55.36%) did not. The majority of the posts, 380 in total, lacked information regarding the prevalence of cardiac arrest, and 306 posts had no information about the etiology of cardiac arrest. It was discovered that 61.17% and 81.61% of the posts were useful and offered information regarding heart attack prevention and treatment, respectively. Out of 457 relevant entries, 400 did not possess any information about the mortality connected to an adverse event of cardiac origin.