Health care news stories represent an important source of information for patients. However, some evidence suggests that many news stories do not adequately explain research results and could mislead readers with spin, defined as “the presentation of information in a particular way, a slant, especially a favorable one.” The danger of spin is that it can, for example, convince patients that treatments are more promising than they actually are or minimize their risks.
In a study involving a University of Minnesota researcher, recently published in the journal BMC Medicine, researchers surveyed 900 patients/caregivers to evaluate the impact of spin in health news stories.
