Most health care recommendations in men’s magazines lack evidence
More than half of the recommendations found in men’s health magazines lacked medical evidence, according to a retrospective study published in the American Journal of Men’s Health.
“Many of my male patients started to take some sort of a magic supplement or started a meta-energy diet to help improve their health,” Mohamed Jalloh, PharmD, assistant professor at Touro University California’s College of Pharmacy and a board certified clinical pharmacist at OLE Health in Napa, Calif., told Healio Primary Care. “I asked where they received such recommendations and most cited mainstream media, such a health magazine, television show or YouTube video.”
The conversations reminded Jalloh of a BMJ study that found only about half of health recommendations on The Dr Oz Show and The Doctors were supported by “credible” evidence. He wondered if the same would be true if he focused on men’s health magazines.
Jalloh and a team of researchers evaluated the evidence behind 161 recommendations from nine issues of Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness magazines. They discovered that there was a case report or higher quality evidence to support only 42%. Also, the evidence was “unclear, nonexistent or contradictory” for 77.5% of 80 recommendations in Men’s Health and 75.3% of 81 recommendations in Men’s Fitness.
Some of the recommendations Jalloh and colleagues found that lacked consistent and credible evidence claimed that:
- consumption of omega-3 fatty acids deactivates fat-stimulating genes;
- the time of day that physical training occurs impacts adherence rates;
- using topical aspirin treats acne; and
- performing a 15-minute high-intensity interval training workout reduces the amount of comfort food consumed after a mentally exhausting day.
Health claims without evidence are common in mainstream media but are often perceived by patients as being true, according to Bradley Gill, MD, a urologist at Cleveland Clinic.
“Jalloh’s findings are fairly consistent with my experience,” he said in an interview. “When a patient talks about something that they have read or seen online, I want to understand their perspective and utilize this information to help us formulate a treatment plan.” It could be that the patient does not want to take another pill, receive another injection or undergo a certain procedure, Gill said.
Bradley Scott Jones, MD, internist at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, called Jalloh’s findings “generous.”
“Nine out of 10 times such recommendations are usually either not proven or theory,” Jones said.
Although Jalloh and colleagues did not find “harmful” or “unsafe” recommendations in the magazines, Jalloh said that some patients “forgo needed prescription medical treatment to continue to implement these media-based health recommendations.”
He said that he hopes the findings “encourage healthy conversations with male patients and their primary care providers.”