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Impact of Media Information Sources on the Patients��? Health Status

 Sadia Shakeel

 This study aimed to investigate the perception of  physicians toward the effect of  electronic and print media on the health status of  patients. The study population  comprised  physicians  rendering  their  services  in  different  hospitals  of   Karachi,  Pakistan,  selected  by  the  nonprobability  convenience  sampling  technique.  In  this  study,  500  questionnaires  were  distributed  through  email  or  direct correspondence. Physicians’ perception toward the impact of  electronic and print media on the health status of  patients was assessed with a 20-item questionnaire. Different demographic characteristics, such as age, gender,  institution,  position,  and  experience  of   respondents,  were  recorded.  The association of  the demographic characteristics  of   the  responses  of   physicians  was  determined  by  one-way  ANOVA  using  0.05  level  of   significance.    In  this  study,  254  physicians  provided  consent  to  show  their  responses  for  research  purposes.  A  response  rate  of   50.8%  was  obtained.  Nearly  one-third  of   the  respondents  negated  that  patients  get  health  benefit  using  electronic  and  print  media.  The  majority  did  not consider electronic and print media as lifestyle-modifying factors. Physicians thought that patients particularly do not rely on mass media for acquiring health information  and  consider  healthcare  professionals  as  unswerving  information resource.  Mass  media  can  be  productive  resources  to  augment  awareness  among  patients,  although  physicians  seem  unconvinced  about  the  extended usage of  print/electronic media.