A qualitative evaluation of communication in Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities

Seyedezahra Shadi Erfani, Babak Abedin, Farhad Daneshgar

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Social network sites use is increasingly daily. While many health related communities now exist on Facebook; the issue of arising potential drawbacks of online communities is the matter of debate. This study aimed to investigate the content of communication in Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities (i) to determine the users of Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities (ii) to understand the content of communication in Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities (iii) to examine the extent of exchanging incorrect health information and posting negative feeling in patient support Facebook communities. To this end content analysis technique was applied, 10 largest Facebook communities related to the Ovarian Cancer were selected then a thematic coding scheme was developed and random sample of the most recent wall posts and discussion topics were evaluated. Patients with Ovarian Cancer and their care takers provide queries and feedback related to personal health related information like experiences for cancer management; they also provide emotional support but potential disadvantages such as unconventional medical information and negative feeling were infrequent.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational Conference on Information Society, i-Society 2013
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages270-272
Number of pages3
ISBN (Print)9781908320131
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Event2013 International Conference on Information Society, i-Society 2013 - Toronto, ON, Canada
Duration: 24 Jun 201326 Jun 2013

Other

Other2013 International Conference on Information Society, i-Society 2013
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityToronto, ON
Period24/06/1326/06/13

Keywords

  • Facebook
  • information sharing
  • Ovarian Cancer
  • quality of information
  • self-help mechanism
  • social network sites

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