Oral cancer: analysis of the clarity of publications in Instagram profiles of official health agencies in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract This article aims to analyze the clarity and engagement measures of publications on oral cancer in the Instagram profiles of official health agencies in Brazil. An infodemiological study was conducted with 81 profiles. Data collected concerned content classification, account and media, manner of addressing the topic, number of posts, likes, comments, views and hashtags. The clarity of the educational publications was assessed with the Brazilian version of the Clear Communication Index (BR-CDC-CCI). Data analysis involved Spearman’s correlation and the Mann-Whitney test (α = 5%). A total of 775 publications on oral cancer were found. The average BR-CDC-CCI score was 69.8 (SD = 15.5). The clarity of the information was adequate in 9.5% of the educational publications. Positive correlations were found between the number of likes and engagement (comments [r = 0.49], views [r = 0.96]), number of hashtags (r = 0.13) and year of publication (r = 0.21). Publications from the Health Ministry had a significantly higher BR-CDC-CCI score compared to the other profiles. Publications on oral cancer were correlated with engagement, year of publication and number of hashtags. Public agencies increased publications to reach the population, but the clarity of the content was low.