Evidence vs. Engagement: Are Health Influencers Credible?

Where Instagram used to just be a source of life hacks and relatable moments to make you smile, over 50% of Americans turn to social media for health advice, rather than medical sources. When it comes to health, there has never been more demand for your attention. Over 70% of young adults in the US follow influencers and almost half of them have purchased products based on their recommendations. And this trend is spreading: In Austria, over 80% of young people (15-25) report watching health-related influencers, and over 10% have bought medications and self-tests as a result. The same study revealed that 77% of this group turned to a health influencer for their information. But unlike your doctor's office or local health clinic, there is no set of entrance exams or tests to pass to become an influencer.

Is our reliance on health influencers a bad thing?

Who is influencing us when it comes to our health? Often we see familiar faces from TV and media, who are suddenly advising us on everything from mental health to physical symptoms. Conditions that take doctors and health professionals years to learn how to diagnose, treat and monitor are being distilled into soundbites, with a snappy hook and a soundtrack, to catch our ever draining attention. Raising awareness about health can have many benefits.

However, the qualifications of the person advising may be limited to their own individual experience as opposed to the objective view of scientific training and rigour. Whilst our experiences of illness and symptoms are the most important thing we have as patients, for these to be investigated, treated and managed, we usually need more than a Reddit thread. Personal bias can present challenges in this scenario — when you have experienced symptoms and often a complex pathway to treatment, this impacts how you explain these to others. This makes for engaging and emotional content, but it doesn’t replace the objective view of a clinician. In extreme cases, some influencers have been investigated for offering up unsafe and unregulated cures for serious conditions based on their own beliefs

A perfect storm

Accessing healthcare has become increasingly challenging post-pandemic. In the US and the UK, waiting times to see a primary care doctor are increasing and can be up to 20 days. Feeling dismissed and unheard is increasingly common, and this can be hugely upsetting and stressful for patients who are already suffering with frightening symptoms. Hearing someone else share their similar experience forms the basis of support groups and online forums, which can improve health outcomes and even provide the routes into new doctors and treatments for many.

Back to basics

Most influencers who talk on health-related topics do not have formal education in the subject matter they are covering. In 2023, reality star Kim Kardashian posted to her millions of followers about the ‘lifesaving’ benefits of having a full body MRI scan — evidence for these health screening scans has shown no clinical benefits and has highlighted their risk of overdiagnosis and subsequent unnecessary investigations. Not forgetting the vast cost of $2000-$4000 per scan (not an issue for Kim K., of course).

Rodents vs humans

Understanding the complex fields of human health is one thing, but communicating it in a reliable, understandable format that allows for nuance and individual variation is something totally different. We saw that recently when a medically qualified expert was talking about menopause, the role of oestrogen and how this impacts the brain. This became quickly distilled into ‘your brain eats itself during menopause in the absence of hormone replacement therapy’. Neuroscience experts and communicators were quick to point out that this is untrue. What was being discussed was the much more complex discovery that changes in hormones during menopause create a ‘neurological transition state’.

Where do we go from here?

"Dr. Social Media" is here to stay, so consider this before you share content or follow an online recommendation:

Be alert to the call to action. This might be as obvious as a product linked to the post, but sometimes this doesn’t follow until you are a few posts or email sign-ups in. Consider how, and if, that might be impacting the content that is being shared.

Consider their knowledge base and how this is being represented. There is little regulation on how people present themselves across social media platforms, so if you like their content and style, have a deeper dive into their qualifications and experience before you decide to follow their advice.

Whose story is it anyway? Being a patient changes your perspective on symptoms and healthcare. Living with MS, I know how challenging it can be to feel heard and explain difficult symptoms. Other people's stories are important, but try to consider your symptoms and experience as a whole, not just the ones that align with someone else.

Listen to more than one point of view. Doctors will often have different perspectives or viewpoints within a single speciality. If someone's explanation sounds like an outlier, look up other medics or health care professionals in this field to see things with a wider lens.

Finally, you know yourself better than anyone who is posting on social channels, so be alert to your own symptoms and if they persist, or are of concern, always discuss them with your doctor before committing to a course of influencer-approved action.