Comparative Analysis of Health Forums and their Respective Articles

1. Comparative Analysis of Health Forums and their Respective Articles Objective To provide credible information, supportive communities, and in-depth reference material about health subjects. What is it? An award winning organization that aims to fulfill the promise of health information on the internet. What are its Values? To provide quality health information in an engaging, exciting, and entertaining way. To uphold the integrity of editorial process. What are the Topics Covered? Health A-Z: information of medical conditions ranging from mild ( allergies and cold) to severe (diabetes and cancer) Drugs and Supplements: contains reviews of drugs as well as clinical information about them like uses and side effects. Living Healthy: contains information on such topics as Fitness and Exercise, Sex and Relationships, Food and Recipes and more. Family and Pregnancy: includes topics like Pregnancy 101. baby, Children’s Health, and Parenting, as well as popular articles and Editor’s pick. Who are its Leaders? All editors are MD’s and the content staff includes individuals who hold advanced degrees in journalism, medical illustration, health communication, clinical informatics, nursing, and medicine. *information gathered from webmd.com WebMD JAMA Web MD JAMA Arrangement of Articles WebMD Data: Contains some cold, hard evidence in the form of the most basic understandable units. (percentages) The data is presented throughout the article. “Among those mothers who took folic acid supplements, 0.10 percent of their children were diagnosed with autism, compared with 0.21 percent of children whose mothers didn't take folic acid. That's a 39 percent lowered risk for the neurodevelopment disorders. Presents most relevant information about the study without going too much into detail about the evidence supporting it. “Women who took the supplements were more likely to be better educated and have planned their pregnancy. They were also likely to be thin and not smoke. For most, it was their first child, the researchers added “ Other Information • Contains quotations from the authors of the article and other experts in the field. • Presents a plausible explanation of why folic acid may be preventative. • Contains statistics about Autism Spectrum Disorders • Provides links about the key words mentioned for more information (Ex: links to Asperger’s Syndrome) • Contains information about other congenital defects or diseases that folic acid can help to prevent like spina bifida. Differences in the Information Presented in Articles Arguments Made in Articles Both of the forums come to basically the same conclusions which are as follows: Risk of having a child with autism is reduced with intake of folic acid supplements before pregnancy and during early pregnancy. Women of higher socioeconomic status who didn’t smoke or drink were more conscientious of their folic acid supplement use. However, there were some slight differences in the call to action of each article. JAMA: “This finding does not establish a causal relation between folic acid use and autistic disorder but provides a rationale for replicating the analyses in other study samples and further investigating genetic factors and other biological mechanisms that may explain the inverse association.” WebMD: “It isn't clear yet how much folic acid might guard against autism, so a woman should discuss her options with her doctor.” Why are there Differences? The audience of both the forums and the articles as well as the purposes of them differ greatly and are the main reasons for the major differences seen. WebMD: Audience: • Mostly every day people that have specific medical or health inquiries, as well as personal stakes in the information. This explains the various quotations from experts, easy to follow storyline and short length of the article. Purposes: • To provide a broad scope of information that appropriately conveys health performance needs, health research needs, and community support for its readers. This explains why the call to action involves a woman consulting her options with her physician. JAMA: 1. Audience: • Is mostly physicians and other researchers which explains the strict formatting of articles, as well as the clear and detailed presentation of information. 2. Purposes: • To provide physicians with continuing education in clinical science to support informed clinical decisions and ongoing career development. This explains the disclaimer seen in the call to action. • To enable physicians to remain informed in multiple areas of medicine including developments in fields other than their own. This explains the exhaustive use of data. Author’s Note The particular topic was chosen because autism is increasing throughout the world and prevention of this condition is of key importance to upcoming mothers. This comparative analysis serves to show how different audiences and purposes can affect the presentation style and format of a writing piece even though the authors have relatively the same credentials and background. It also serves to show how articles published in different forums align with the expectations and values of their respective forum. Objective To promote the science and art of medicine for the betterment of the public health What is it? An internationally recognized peer reviewed medical journal. The most widely circulated medical journal in the world. What are its Values? To have original, important, ethical and valid peer-reviewed articles. To maintain high standards of editorial integrity. To have a publication that is timely, credible, and enjoyable to read. What are the topics covered? Diverse medical topics including but not limited to cardiology, drug therapy, health care reform, obesity and vascular medicine. Specialty sites in facial plastic surgery, dermatology, internal medicine, neurology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, otolarynology(head and neck surgery) psychiatry, and surgery. Who are its Leaders? Its editors, statistical reviewers, and contributing writers are MD’s, MPH’s, MSJ’s, and PhD’s. *information gathered from jama.jamanetwork.com An analysis of the major differences between the medical health forums WebMD and JAMA by examining article examples that discuss the same topic. By: Paula M. Gomez JAMA Data: Contains an entire section (results section) of cold hard evidence presented in tables and graphs toward the end of the article. • talks about data collected about fish oil supplements which is completely missing from the WebMD article. • Talks in detail about national autism data and statistics (for Norway) and how it correlates with the findings of the study(to validate that results are precise). This is also completely missing from the WebMD article. Other Information: • Talks about the limitations and weaknesses of the study, as well as the strengths of it • Explains why the data collected is valid. • Talks about any possible biases that may have skewed the data towards a particular extreme • Contains information about other congenital defects or diseases that folic acid can help to prevent like spina bifida. Article Title: Association Between Maternal use of Folic Acid Supplements and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children. Is organized into five major sections (Abstract, Methods, Results, Comment, Author Information, and References)each containing subsections with well developed and detailed paragraphs. Results: are stated and discussed at the end of the paper, although a little insight into what was found is stated in the abstract. Length: Approximately nine pages Article Title: Folic Acid in Pregnancy may Lower Autism Risk Is organized into many small paragraphs each containing anywhere from 1-5 sentences. Results: are stated right away in the first sentence of the article. Length: Approximately two pages