Epidemiology and prognosis of coma in daytime television dramas
Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To determine how soap operas portray, and possibly misrepresent, the likelihood of recovery for patients in coma. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Nine soap operas in the United States reviewed between 1 January 1995 and 15 May 2005. SUBJECTS: 64 characters who experienced a period of unconsciousness lasting at least 24 hours. Their final status at the end of the follow-up period was compared with pooled data from a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Comas lasted a median of 13 days (interquartile range 7-25 days). Fifty seven (89%) patients recovered fully, five (8%) died, and two (3%) remained in a vegetative state. Mortality for non-traumatic and traumatic coma was significantly lower than would be predicted from the meta-analysis data (non-traumatic 4% v 53%; traumatic 6% v 67%; Fisher's exact test both P < 0.001). On the day that patients regained consciousness, most (49/57; 86%) had no evidence of limited function, cognitive deficit, or residual disability needing rehabilitation. Compared with meta-analysis data, patients in this sample had a much better than expected chance of returning to normal function (non-traumatic 91% v 1%; traumatic 89% v 7%; both P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The portrayal of coma in soap operas is overly optimistic. Although these programmes are presented as fiction, they may contribute to unrealistic expectations of recovery.
Source: BMJ
Authors: David Casarett, Jessica M Fishman, Holly Jo MacMoran, Amy Pickard, David A Asch
Institutions: Philadelphia VA Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Topic: Media Influence and Health
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2161930998