Delivering the occupational health message a risky business Dr John Hobson Honorary Editor Occupational Medicine

Transcription

1 Delivering the occupational health message a risky business Dr John Hobson Honorary Editor Occupational Medicine

2 Main themes The power of the media Medicine and the media Occupational Medicine: the journal Our experience of press releases Summary

3 The power of the media

4 Wakefield et al Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A et al. (28 February 1998). "Ileal-lymphoid- nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children". Lancet 351 (9103): (Retracted) "Interpretation. We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers."

5 MMR and Andrew Wakefield Study on 12 children where parents associated problems with MMR Extensive media coverage Decline in vaccination rates Mumps epidemic in 2005 Measles endemic in 2008

6 science by press conference Before the paper was published Wakefield called for suspension of the triple vaccine until further research could be done

7 Impact Immunization rates in Britain dropped from 92% to 73% Low as 50% in some parts of London. Remain <95% required by WHO for herd immunity

8 Aftermath "There has been a huge impact from the Wakefield fiasco... This spawned a whole anti-vaccine movement. Great Britain has seen measles outbreaks. It probably resulted in a lot of deaths. Paul Hébert editor Canadian Medical Association Journal

9 Aftermath: Wakefield Struck off medical register in 2010 Medscape Worst physician 2011 TIME magazine list of great science frauds Pigasus award for refusal to face reality most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years "To our community Andrew Wakefield is Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ rolled up into one."

10 Aftermath: The Lancet The Lancet widely felt to be implicated Small case series with no controls, linked three common conditions, and relied on parental recall and beliefs. Stated they would not have accepted had COIs been declared Significant reputational damage

11 Why make press releases? Raising the profile Spreading the message Authors like it Increases impact factor

12 NEJM study Articles cited by the New York Times received a disproportionate number of scientific citations in each of the 10 years after the NEJM articles appeared. The effect was strongest in the first year after publication when articles publicized by the Times received 73% more scientific citations than the control articles.

13 coverage of medical research in the popular press amplifies the transmission of medical information from the scientific literature to the research community. Importance of the Lay Press in the Transmission of Medical Knowledge to the Scientific Community, NEJM 1991 Oct 17; 325(16):

14 Occupational Medicine The journal of the Society of Occupational Medicine first published in 1951 An international peer reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press Adopted journal of OEMAC and linked to the ACOEM and AFOM Available for free on-line in 67 countries Published 8 times per year with a circulation of 2600

15 Mission To publish rigorous, accessible and entertaining material that will help occupational health practitioners and allied professionals throughout the world in their daily practice, lifelong learning and career development For all readers interested in the practice of clinical occupational medicine

16 Occupational Medicine original papers, 22 short reports and 4 case reports 4 In Depth Review; 11 editorials Art, Questionnaire and Country series; Monitor; Web and Book reviews; other fillers Submissions from 30 different countries with 50% of papers from the UK Rejection rate of about 50% Origin 2010 Academia Health service Industry Other

17 Special Issues and Podcasts Special issue 2012 dedicated to Canadian research Special issue 2011 dedicated to HSL research Virtual issue reviewing HSL research from the past and accompanying podcast Special issue 2010 dedicated to Netherlands research Three podcasts available on itunes

18 Geographical distribution of published articles by journal

19 Impact Factor IF is a measure of average citation rate for a set of scholarly articles The IF for a given calendar year is the average number of citations during that calendar year to articles published in the previous two calendar years The IF is often equated with the quality of that journal and even with the quality of the authors publishing in that journal

20 Occupational Medicine IF trend

21 Journal impact factors

22 Full text downloads

23 OM press releases Low profile speciality Aim of SOM to increase awareness of work-related related disease (estimated to cost 100 billion in UK) Journal seen as a vehicle to transmit the message

24 Press releases Previous experience had been unpromising Recruitment of media consultant by SOM Media training of senior officers of SOM

25 Violence against nurses First press release by SOM in 2008 Immediate impact! Coverage in national daily papers radio and TV Requests for interviews

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27 Builder s bum faces cancer crackdown Cover up call as skin toll rises

28 Work stressors and the common cold 4 UK national daily newspapers (Mail, Telegraph, Sun, Mirror) 10 national & regional radio stations 2 interviews on national radio (BBC) >3000 global websites

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31 Releases not picked up Musculoskeletal disorder in reindeer herders (Xmas issue) Risk of death from diseases and injuries caused by alcohol, drugs and sexual habits in different jobs and professions

32 OM study on impact of press releases 12 press releases between March 2008 and May 2011 Compared to randomly chosen paper in same issue HTML access increased x6 Downloaded pdfs increased x3.5 Citations increased by 72%

33 Wakefield revisited Science is at once the most questioning and... sceptical of activities and also the most trusting. It is intensely sceptical about the possibility of error, but totally trusting about the possibility of fraud. Arnold Relman, former editor NEJM 1989

34 Public opinion 48% of people surveyed believed that on public health issues the media should wait for confirmatory studies before reporting alarming research 34% believed that concerns about the MMR vaccine such as those of Dr Andrew Wakefield vaccine should be reported. Towards a Better Map: Science, the Public and the Media; Economic and Social Research Council (

35 Swimming with sharks In 1998 the Wakefield paper was only mentioned in 122 publications The Daily Mail (which campaigns against vaccines) only published a very small piece In 2001 British PM Tony Blair refused to say whether baby Leo had received MMR (he had as revealed later by Cherie when publicising her autobiography) In 2002 the Wakefield paper was mentioned in 1257 publications but for MMR 32% of stories quoted Leo; 25% Wakefield The RCGP provided anti-vaccine GPs for quotes suggesting a lack of media training

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37 The truth Journal of Medical Virology 2006 Afzal et al Searched for measles RNA in children with regressive autism after MMR vaccination Able to detect measles RNA down to single-figure copy No evidence of the vaccine-strain measles RNA to implicate MMR. Nobody wrote about this study, anywhere, in the British media - except Ben Goldacre

38 Ben Goldacre It is madness to imagine that one single man can create a 10-year scare story. It is also dangerous to imply that academics should be policed not to speak their minds. Individuals like Wakefield must be free to have bad ideas. The media created the MMR hoax, and they maintained it diligently for 10 years. Their failure to recognise that fact demonstrates that they have learned nothing, and until they do, journalists and editors will continue to perpetrate the very same crimes, repeatedly, with increasingly grave consequences. Bad Science, Ben Goldacre 2008

39 Summary Press releases can raise the profile of your speciality and the impact of your journal Be aware of the power of the media and recognise that they are interested in selling news Be prepared for the storm when a story is picked up

40 Do s and Don ts Do make sure the science is correct Do use an expert who understands the media Do have media training Don t expect every release to be picked up

41 Thank you

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