Table 5.
Perceived reliability of sources for health-related information.
| Subgroup | Total, meana | Group 1, meanb | Group 2, meanb | t 627 | P | |
| Gender |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Self | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.5 | –0.42 | .67 |
|
|
Physician | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 0.87 | .38 |
|
|
Internet | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.18 | .86 |
|
|
Friends/family | 5.9 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 0.98 | .33 |
|
|
Social media | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 0.04 | .97 |
| Age |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Self | 7.5 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 1.47 | .14 |
|
|
Physician | 7.3 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 1.12 | .26 |
|
|
Internet | 6.0 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 0.97 | .33 |
|
|
Friends/family | 5.9 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 3.29 | .001 |
|
|
Social media | 3.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | –2.03 | .04 |
| Education |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Self | 7.5 | 7.0 | 7.7 | –2.35 | .02 |
|
|
Physician | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.4 | –0.77 | .44 |
|
|
Internet | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | –0.31 | .76 |
|
|
Friends/family | 5.9 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 1.07 | .29 |
|
|
Social media | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.8 | –0.69 | .49 |
aEstimations for Dutch population (on a scale from 1 to 10; 1=very unreliable, 10=very reliable), based on the study sample of 635 respondents. Note that these estimates are weighted sums of the cell response numbers; therefore, n’s cannot be provided (see Methods) for these scores.
bFor gender, group 1=male, group 2=female; for age, group 1=age ≤34 years, group 2=age>34 years; for education, group 1=no or low education, group 2=moderate or high education.