Alexander R. Chang|Emily E. Anderson|Hang T. Turner|David Shoham|Susan Hou|Morgan E. Grams
Identifying potential kidney donors using social networking web sites
Johns Hopkins University|Loyola University Chicago|Loyola University Medical Center|Loyola University Medical Center|Loyola University Medical Center|Johns Hopkins University
abstract social networking sites like f acebook may powerful tool increasing rates live kidney donation allow wide dissemination information discussion could lessen anxiety associated facetoface request donation however sparse data exist use social media purpose searched f acebook popular social networking site publicly available englishlanguage pages seeking kidney donors specific individual abstracting information potential recipient characteristics page whether potential donors tested 91 pages meeting inclusion criteria mean age potential recipients 37 range 269 88 us residents posted information included individuals photograph 76 blood type 64 cause kidney disease 43 location 71 thirtytwo percent pages reported potential donors tested 10 reported receiving livedonor kidney transplant reporting donor testing shared potential recipient characteristics provided information transplantation higher page traffic facebook already used identify potential kidney donors future studies focus safely ethically effectively use social networking sites inform potential donors potentially expand live kidney donation