Considerable evidence that exposure to conflicting health information can have undesirable effects on outcomes

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the abstract and future work and stated challenges of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2024 and 2026, spanning 3 journals. Those papers have been cited 68 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 4 representative gaps

• Effects of Exposure to Conflicting Health Information on Topic-Specific Information Sharing and Seeking Intentions (2024) · Health Communication · cited 4× · doi

  Despite considerable evidence that exposure to conflicting health information can have undesirable effects on outcomes including public understanding about and trust in health recommendations, comparatively little is known about whether such exposure influences intentions to engage in two communication behaviors central to public health promotion: information sharing and information seeking.

  generalabstract
  Keywords: health information exposure public despite considerable evidence conflicting undesirable effects outcomes including understanding trust recommendations
• Perceptions of health misinformation on social media: patterns and predictors (2026) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi

  misleading health information, particularly how this ability varies across sociodemographic groups and in different information environments. Given differences across social media platforms, researchers should assess platform-specific variation in perceived misinformation and how trust in health institutions moderates these perceptions. Finally, while interventions such as social media campaigns, educational efforts, and warning labels have been developed (51–53), further research is needed to determine how these strategies influence perceptions of misinformation, particularly when content aligns or misaligns with prior beliefs.

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: health information particularly across social media misinformation perceptions misleading ability varies sociodemographic groups erent environments
• Exploring Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior Among Young Adults: Scoping Review (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · cited 46× · doi

  The review identifies the challenge of designing interventions tailored to young adults' specific needs and habits. Another challenge is the need for public health stakeholders to go beyond simply 'being present' on social media and to account for the dynamics of influencer trust, platform-specific language, and the shift toward horizontal rather than top-down communication. The review also notes the challenge of managing misinformation and ensuring inclusivity in online health information platforms.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: review identifies challenge designing interventions tailored young adults
• eHealth Literacy and Web-Based Health Information–Seeking Behaviors on COVID-19 in Japan: Internet-Based Mixed Methods Study (2024) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · cited 18× · doi

  Misinformation and disinformation may negatively affect people's physical and mental health, increase stigmatization, and threaten public health gains. Many websites providing health information are unreliable and may be more linked to promoting commercial goods or private health services. There is a need to identify the difficulties in seeking and using COVID-19 information among adult Japanese internet users with low or high eHealth literacy.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: misinformation disinformation negatively affect people physical mental health

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