Characteristics of COI in health communication on social media assessed in the included studies (N=17)
| n (%) | |
| Subjects of COI | |
| Physicians | 13 (76) |
| Medical students | 1 (6) |
| University | 4 (24) |
| Healthcare entity (hospital, clinic) | 4 (24) |
| Others* | 9 (53) |
| Source of COI | |
| Industry | 11 (65) |
| Others† | 2 (12) |
| Not specified | 6 (35) |
| Types of COI | |
| Financial | 7 (41) |
| Not specified | 10 (59) |
*Others: non-physician health professionals (nurses, dietitians, nutritionists, pharmacists, chiropractors, acupuncturists), patients, societies/organisations (foundations, governmental institutions, academic journals), industry, news media and bloggers.
†Others: Volunteer donation, foundation, insurer, not-for-profit, webhost or corporation entity.
COI, conflicts of interest.