2023-11-23 20:03:29
A study by the Descartes Foundation, published this Thursday, November 23, establishes in a numerical manner the link between information channels, knowledge and the medical actions of the French.
Who has never been confidently asserted that dark chocolate can treat serious mental disorders such as depression? This assertion… is false. And yet, 51.3% of French people “completely” or “rather agree” with it. However, this false information is circulating on social networks, from Facebook to X, via Instagram, WhatsApp or TikTok. For a year, the Descartes Foundation, created in 2019 to fight against disinformation, conducted a study with 4,000 adults representative of the French metropolitan population, to measure the impact of medical disinformation on citizens’ behavior.
The result of this investigation, published this Thursdayis clear: French people who find out about medical news, especially on social networks, have less health knowledge than the rest of the population and exhibit more risky medical behavior. “I expected we would see a link. And I expected that social media would not be on the good side, because there is more misinformation circulating on these channelsexplains to Figaro Laurent Cordonier, sociologist and research director of the Descartes Foundation. This is where the ratio of false things to true things is strongest.”
Vaccine hesitancy and Covid-19
Around 12% of French people have therefore already given up medical treatment in favor of alternative therapy (osteopathy, acupuncture, reflexology, magnetism, etc.). And two in ten respondents say they have already refused a vaccine (excluding Covid-19) for themselves and/or their children. “On average, these risky health behaviors are carried out by people demonstrating a lower level of health knowledge than the rest of the population”, notes the investigation. Who adds: these same people “declare a greater interest in health news than the rest of the respondents”. But they mainly get their information on social networks, YouTube and instant messaging.
Likewise, 13.7% of those questioned say they have refused the Covid-19 vaccine. If this category has a “less interest than the rest of the population in health topics and a lower frequency of information on medical news”, she makes more frequent use than others of social networks, YouTube and instant messaging. What these three groups of people have in common is their distrust of the medical and scientific community, institutions and the government. However, notes Laurent Cordonier, vaccine hesitancy did not arise with Covid-19. “Work on this phenomenon dates back to the H1-N1 flu epidemic in 2009. Before, it almost didn’t exist”. “But on the other hand, adds the sociologist, the Covid episode has reactivated this phenomenon.”
The doctor, first source of information
Health information is a subject that interests the French. According to the study, 42.5% of respondents say they are “very” or “extremely” interested in medical information and news. But, first paradox, only 13% are informed daily on the subject – compared to 70% on general news. The age group with the best knowledge is those aged 65 and over, while those aged 25-34 and 35-49 obtain the worst results. The 18-24 year olds are average.
The doctor remains respondents’ first source of information on health issues (40%). Followed by general media (28%) and specialized sites (21%). However, “although the general media constitute the main public channel of health information for the French, the latter nevertheless only have moderate confidence in them on the subject”. Social networks are therefore comparatively less consulted as a channel for information on health, 14% of respondents say they go to Facebook “often” to “very often” to follow medical news. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, WhatsApp and Telegram come next.
Thus, reports the study, “the more participants inform themselves regularly by talking to their doctor or through general media, the better their health knowledge is on average”. Unlike those who often consult social networks, whose health knowledge index is low. Furthermore, notes Laurent Cordonier, “the health knowledge of the participants is on average even lower as they show themselves to be sensitive to alternative therapies as well as to New Age beliefs [un mélange personnel de croyances d’origines diverses, NDLR] and paranormal”. And the more the French are sensitive to these beliefs, the more sensitive they are to the sirens of alternative therapies.
“Real concern for public health”
The latter are extremely popular in France, recalls the study, but are not without dangers “particularly when they are perceived and used as substitutes for conventional medicine”. According to a survey carried out in April 2023 by Odoxa for the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight against Sectarian Abuses (Miviludes), 89% of French people have already used at least one alternative therapy for treatment. “The French still have confidence in science but see it in a much more ambiguous way. Perhaps there is a spiritual void to fill, and people will dig into New Age spiritualities, trying to find meaning and balance. As for alternative therapies, it is very linked, because it is not just an offer of care, it is a whole universe of beliefs. Interest in alternative therapies also finds its origin in the shortage of care. When you don’t have a doctor available, why not go see a magnetizer who is available?deciphers the sociologist.
According to Laurent Cordonier, “something central is at stake in health beliefs. Esoteric beliefs, like alternative therapies, are becoming more and more important in France. Book sales turnover in the esoteric segment increased, between 2019 and 2022, from 41 million to 66 million euros.. A “real concern for public health”he warns.
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