Assessment of health education infographics in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the health education infographics posted on Twitter accounts by major health care institutions in Saudi Arabia. Method: Cross-sectional review of health education infographics using a semi-structured evaluation form. The scoring rubric included 10 criteria grouped under 4 main headings: (1) usefulness, (2) legibility, (3) graphics and illustrations and (4) aesthetics. Rated on a scale of 1 to 5, scored items were summed and converted into a percentage. Each infographic was classified as being of high quality (70%–100%), medium quality (40%–69%) or low quality (0%–39%). Results: A total of 297 infographics were evaluated. The most common topics concerned chronic diseases and associated risk factors ( n = 72) and healthy lifestyle ( n = 51). The highest re-tweets (524), likes (605) and replies (226) were received by government organisations. Overall, 249 (83.8%) infographics were categorised as of ‘high quality’, 46 (15.5%) as ‘medium quality’, and 2 (0.7%) as ‘low quality’. The highest proportion (93%) of ‘high-quality’ infographics came from government hospitals. Among individual criterion, drawings (17.2%) made up the highest proportion of the ‘low quality’ category followed by overall design (10.8%) and purpose (10.8%). Light text (covering < 50% of the infographic) showed a significant statistical association with the number of replies ( p = .007), number of likes ( p = .003) and number of retweets ( p = .018). Conclusion: The majority of infographics were rated as being of ‘high quality’. Government institutions were assessed as having better quality infographics than private hospitals. We recommend that social media design specialists and health education specialists collaborate to design clear infographics with better overall design.

Use of infographics for facilitating learning of pharmacology in the nursing degree

“…They found that after the intervention the grade value was higher and 93.75% of the students considered it a useful tool (Vega‐Garzón et al, 2022 ). In the same way, other research groups conducted a study of infographics in health education in Saudi Arabia and concluded that they were of high quality and recommended designing and making infographics on public health and using it through social networks (Jahan et al, 2021 ).…”

Designing Infographics: Visual Representations for Enhancing Education, Communication, and Scientific Research

“…An infographic is not complete without references, as these add validity and credibility for both a lay and medical audience. In Saudi Arabia, Jahan et al 30 assessed 297 infographics on chronic health conditions for patients created by healthcare institutions, and none had references. References provide clinicians with the option to acquire more detailed information, before making changes to clinical practice.…”

WhatsApp and Health Communication

“…The message's effectiveness is determined not just by the integrity of the information but also by how entertaining the information is presented. As a result, there is a need for collaboration between social media designers and health education specialists (Jahan et al, 2021).…”