Trust to health messages in the national TV and Persian-language satellite networks: a population-based survey in Tehran, Iran

Media are the most important source of people’s health information. This study was conducted to compare people’s trust to health messages in the national media and Persian-language satellite networks.
This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Tehran, Iran. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests using SPSS software.
In all 493 individual took part in the study. The results showed that the use of the national TV with some exceptions was higher in both genders, age, educational and occupational groups as compared to satellite networks. Similarly the level of trust to the national TV was higher among participants with different socioeconomic backgrounds compared to satellite networks. While 65% stated that trust the national TV very and very much, only 32.2 % reported that they trust satellite networks.
The findings suggest that the national TV should see the use and trust as positive opportunity and take action in order to strengthen the quantity and quality of health-related programs.