They have huge audiences and are a daily viewing habit for many viewers, but how good is the health advice on medical talk shows like The Dr. Oz Show and The Doctors?
In each show, people with medical degrees and a lot of charisma make health recommendations that are often followed religiously by their viewers. But according to a study conducted at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, the scientific basis for this advice is not always clear-cut.
The researchers found that the shows often present advice that is lacking in scientific evidence. The shows often did not discuss the magnitude of benefit (in other words how well or how often the advice works for the people that use it) of a recommendation, any of its possible harms, or the costs.
The study was done by recording both The Dr. Oz Show and The Doctors every day from January 2013 through April 2013. The researchers than randomly picked 40 episodes of each show and noted the topics, recommendations, and who made the recommendation for each of those episodes. They then selected 80 of the recommendations and spent one hour looking for more evidence on each to support what was being said.
"The research supporting any of these recommendations is frequently absent, contradictory or of poor quality," said Christina Korownyk, associate professor at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "One out of three recommendations from The Dr. Oz Show has believable evidence and about half of the recommendations on The Doctors has believable evidence"
The most common topic for both shows was general medical advice, followed by dietary advice. Neither show mentioned the magnitude of benefit, possible harms, or costs often enough, but Dr. Oz was a bit better overall in these areas than the panel on The Doctors.
Out of 924 total recommendations, in only four cases was a possible conflict of interest noted, the researchers added.