Abstract P1-15-06: Effects of an online educational resource on lay audience understanding of limitations of quality in media reports and research methods
Authors: Yi Robin Hilary Pugh , Welcsch Piri , Rezende Lisa , Dearfield Craig , Owens Kelly , Friedman Susan J. 
Published: March 2020

Rationale: Breast cancer diagnosis at a young age is associated with higher risk of recurrence, second malignancy, mortality, morbidity, and impact on quality of life. Young breast cancer survivors face more life-years after treatment, with associated financial, emotional, and physical burdens. Long-term effects of treatment may include early menopause, fertility impairment, neuropathy, cardiovascular disease, lowered bone density, and risk of second malignancies. Young women with or at-risk for breast cancer often seek health information through mainstream print and digital media. However, they often find it does not address their unique concerns, is difficult to interpret, or even misleading. Media reports of breast cancer research are often unreliable, misleading, or confusing regarding which information is clinically relevant. Common flaws include exaggerating prevalence, ignoring potential side effects of treatment, and failing to discuss all treatment options. Young women with or at-risk for breast cancer, need accurate, clearly presented information based on sound evidence to help them make informed decisions about their specific health needs. To help women better understand media coverage about new research, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) developed the CDC-funded XRAYS (eXamining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors) program. XRAYS is an online resource that provides brief articles summarizing recent research relevant to young women with or at-risk for breast cancer. XRAYS articles rate the quality and relevance of research, the quality of media reporting, and suggest questions that may be useful to address with health care providers. One critical aim of XRAYS is to improve users’ understanding of the limitations of research methods and of media reporting. FORCE charged an independent evaluator with conducting an assessment of XRAYS’ effects on users’ understanding of methodological and reporting issues in media articles about research related to breast cancer.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess whether XRAYS improves readers’ understanding of limitations of study methods and media reporting more than reading media reports alone.

Methods: To assess XRAYS’ impact on users’ understanding of limitations in research methods and reporting quality, an independent evaluator conducted a study with 36 volunteer participants who were attending a FORCE conference. Participants were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. The treatment group read a media report and the corresponding XRAYS article. The control group read only the media report. After reading the materials, participants answered paper and pencil multiple choice questions about methodological limitations of the research discussed in the media report, and about limitations of the reporting itself.

Results: Results are summarized in the table.

GroupNMean Score (s.d.)t-score (d.f.)PComparison Group1742.85 (19.85)-3.08 (34)&lt;.01XRAYS1965.36 (27.66)

After reading the media article, the control group, on average, correctly identified fewer than half of the limitations in study methods or reporting, while, on average, after reading the media article with an XRAYS summary, the treatment group identified about two-thirds of the limitations. The difference between treatment and control groups was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Results indicate that XRAYS is effective in supporting users in identifying more limitations in research and reporting than people who read media reports alone.

Citation Format: Robin Hilary Pugh Yi, Piri Welcsch, Lisa Rezende, Craig Dearfield Ph.D., Kelly Owens, Susan J. Friedman. Effects of an online educational resource on lay audience understanding of limitations of quality in media reports and research methods [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-15-06.