Michele P Hamm|Annabritt Chisholm|Jocelyn Shulhan|Andrea Milne|Shannon D. Scott|Lisa M. Given|Lisa Hartling
Social media use among patients and caregivers: a scoping review
University of Alberta|University of Alberta|University of Alberta|University of Alberta|University of Alberta|Charles Sturt University|University of Alberta
map state existing literature evaluating use social media patient caregiver populationsscoping reviewmedline central eric pubmed cinahl plus full text academic search complete alt health watch health source communication mass media complete web knowledge proquest 20002012studies reporting primary research use social media collaborative projects blogsmicroblogs content communities social networking sites virtual worlds patients caregiverstwo reviewers screened studies eligibility one reviewer extracted data relevant studies second performed verification accuracy completeness 10 sample data analysed describe social media tools used purpose evaluatedtwo hundred eightyfour studies included discussion forums highly prevalent constitute 666 sample social networking sites 148 blogsmicroblogs 141 next commonly used tools intended purpose tool facilitate selfcare 771 studies clusters studies focused similar conditions eg lifestyleweight loss 127 cancer 113 patterns objectives tools used large proportion studies descriptive 423 however also 48 169 randomised controlled trials rcts among rcts 354 reported statistically significant results favouring social media intervention evaluated however 729 presented positive conclusions regarding use social mediathere extensive body literature examining use social media patient caregiver populations much work descriptive however widespread use evaluations effectiveness required studies examined effectiveness positive conclusions often reported despite nonsignificant findings