Article on how vaccination views depend on the source of information

[prosciencemum]

I thought this article was interesting: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/apm/2012/932741/

It's from 2012, but based on data collected in 2002-2003 on (pre web 2.0) internet use and how this affects peoples views on vaccination.

Might be obvious, but it's interesting to me to see hard figures. 

An excerpt from the abstract. 

Quote:

Respondents were asked about their vaccine information sources, perceptions of these sources accuracy, and their beliefs about vaccination. Parents who did not view their child’s healthcare provider as a reliable vaccine information source were more likely to obtain vaccine information using the Internet. [] Compared to parents who did not use the Internet for vaccine information, those who sought vaccine information on the Internet were more likely to have lower perceptions of vaccine safety , vaccine effectiveness, and disease susceptibility and were more likely to have a child with a nonmedical exemption.

[pek64]

Let's see. Since 90% or so of doctors and other health care providers say "vaccines are safe and effective", then anyone who has doubts about that statement will look elsewhere for information. Where is the number one place to look for information? Nowadays, it's the Internet.

Who really needed a study to show the obvious?

If health care providers recommended caution and expressed concern about vaccine safety and effectiveness, then more people would talk with health care providers about vaccines. Then the pro-vax people would be looking for information. And probably using the Internet.

The Internet is not the problem. The problem is that some people have doubts, and a closed ranks response is not going to alleviate those doubts.

[Rrrrrachel]

I'm pretty sure she just said she thought it was interesting, not that there was anything wrong with looking on the Internet for information.

[Taximom5]

The point of the study seems to be the importance of the pharmaceutical/medical industry's using the Internet to get their message across, because the more highly educated parents are no longer trusting their doctor for vaccine information.

"Overall, 249 respondents (19.9%) reported using the Internet as a source of vaccine information (hereafter referred to as “Internet users”; the remaining 1,004 respondents who reported not using the Internet as a source of vaccine information are hereafter referred to as “Non-Internet users”)...."

"Internet users were more likely to have at least a college degree..."

"An important finding in this analysis is that parents who use the Internet for vaccine information have lower perceptions of disease susceptibility. "

Translation: parents who trust their doctor as primary source of information on disease and vaccines are more frightened of diseases than the more highly-educated parents who do their own research on the Internet.

"The results of this analysis have implications for the role of the Internet in vaccine communication. Because Internet use and nonmedical exemptions are significantly related, it is necessary for the content of Internet-based vaccine information to best target the appropriate audiences..."

Translation: if more educated parents are going to decide that the Internet is a better source of vaccine information than their doctor, we need to put more effort into convincing them to get vaccines via Internet propaganda.

[Chicharronita]

Yep. Lots of studies find that vaccine skeptics tend to be college-educated and at least middle class in terms of income.