Home
- Eating Well (or at Least Not terribly) at Fast Food Resturants
You can view the current or previous issues of Diabetes Health online, in their entirety, anytime you want.
Click Here To View
See if you qualify for our free healthcare professional magazines. Click here to start your application for Pre-Diabetes Health, Diabetes Health Pharmacist and Diabetes Health Professional.
Latest Diabetes Articles
Popular Diabetes Articles
Highly Recommended Diabetes Articles
Email to a Friend
Send a link to this page to your friends and colleagues.
Handle online advice with care
If you're getting information about diabetes from groups or friends on Facebook, you might want to be careful. A new study suggests that a quarter of posts in these groups are possibly ads, and not for FDA-approved treatments, either.
Scientists from Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital conducted the study, which looked at more than a dozen Facebook diabetes groups. And while their findings raised some concern, they also found "tentative" evidence of positive effects from the use of social media.
According to William Shrank, MD, the study's senior author: "To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to analyze in detail the quality of the information that people with diabetes are sharing with each other through Facebook. There are certainly public health benefits that can be garnered from these sites - but patients and doctors need to know it is really the Wild West out there."
How did patients use these Facebook groups?
Most of the posts -- 66 percent -- were people sharing their experiences with the disease. The informal, social context of such groups meant that people were comfortable talking about their challenges and successes in managing diabetes.
And nearly a third of posts -- some 29 percent -- were messages specifically offering emotional support for those managing the disease.
It's important to note here that percentages mentioned in the study overlap -- some of this 29 percent is shared with the 66 percent mentioned earlier, for instance, as people's sharing of their experiences could also be a form of support.
Matters become more complicated the further one looks into the report. Only 13 percent of responses answered specific requests for information from the online communities. For a disease as centered on management as diabetes, such a percentage seems small.
And then there are the ads. Some 27 percent of posts were specifically promotional or included testimonials about treatments or services that aren't FDA-approved. Researchers said there seemed to be little effort to screen these kind of messages.
Troyen A. Brennan, MD, the executive vice president and chief medical officer of CVS Caremark, which sponsored the study, sounded a note of caution: "This study shows the many ways that patients are benefiting from social networks, but it is critically important for patients to understand the need for fact-checking."
The study did add, however, that the information found in the groups wasn't necessarily dangerous or misleading -- just unscreened.
Researchers looked at 15 diabetes-themed Facebook groups, with more than 9,000 members between them. They analyzed 690 posts from 480 different users. The study appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Ultimately, scientists said, it's important for health care professionals to know where patients are getting their information. And it's also worth knowing that marketing efforts are spreading, unregulated, through social networks.
"Clinicians should be aware of these strengths and limitations when discussing sources of information about chronic disease with patients," the researchers wrote. "Policy makers should consider how to assure transparency in promotional activities, and patients may seek social networking sites developed and patrolled by health professionals to promote accurate and unbiased information exchange."
Sources:
Categories: Diabetes, Diabetes, Health Care, Inspiration, Online Resources, Psychology, Software
You May Also Be Interested In...
-
Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
-
Topics
- Diabetic / Diabetes Health
- Type 1 / 1.5 Diabetes
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Blood Glucose / Sugar
- High/Low Blood Sugar / Fast Acting Glucose
- Insulin- Pumps, Pens & Syringes
- Continuous Glucose Monitors, CGM, Infusion Sets
- Type 2 Medications
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypoglycemia
Comments
The use of social media for diabetes information is unregulated and may not necessarily represent the "Truth". However, the "authoritarian" sources of information such as Diabetes UK, ADA and other national diabetes associations consistently fail to tell the Truth about what foods work for diabetes, obesity, arteriosclerosis and cancer prevention. Why not have a look at them?
There are a few commenters on this website that offer advice or "spam" options. I have never seen an instance here where such information is deleted because of the contents of the post. I also have never seen an instance where someone went off the deep end and followed the advice given. Has anyone been burned by what they read here?
I agree that "it is critically important for patients to understand the need for fact-checking." I think the vast majority of users of these services are very good at fact checking. Actually, being in a group, its likely that some members are really great fact-checkers, and they will share their information with the group. As Katherine mentioned, just because the ADA recommends something doesn't mean it's the best way to go.
Considering this article is found online and I just shared it on facebook, does that I'll take this information with a grain of salt?! ;)
Interesting article, and fun to read.
Regarding the small percentage of answers for specific requests for information, I think it might have a lot to do with what those requests are.
I think many people involved with social media in the diabetes community are pretty savvy users and know that diabetes is different for each and every individual.
If those requests are for things like insulin doses and medication adjustments, it makes sense that the savvy users would be hesitant to respond. I would hope that many would explain that it is impossible for anyone, except *maybe* someone in that persons health care team.
I think it also makes sense that there was a high percentage of posts about personal experiences and emotional support. Those specific aspects are really what make the diabetes online community such a special place in my humble opinion.
Thanks!
Add your comments about this article below. You can add comments as a registered user or anonymously. If you choose to post anonymously your comments will be sent to our moderator for approval before they appear on this page. If you choose to post as a registered user your comments will appear instantly.
When voicing your views via the comment feature, please respect the Diabetes Health community by refraining from comments that could be considered offensive to other people. Diabetes Health reserves the right to remove comments when necessary to maintain the cordial voice of the diabetes community.
For your privacy and protection, we ask that you do not include personal details such as address or telephone number in any comments posted.
Don't have your Diabetes Health Username? Register now and add your comments to all our content.
Register...
Register your Diabetes Health Username here.
Have Your Say...