Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer.
Globally, cancer patients obtain much of their disease information online. Online health communities allow patients to share questions and information about diseases. However, there have been few studies on the factors affecting online health community participation behavior in cancer patients. Onli...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235056 |
| _version_ | 1798032639803785216 |
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| author | Kyung Ah Park So Yeon Eum Hyeonjung Oh Myung Hae Cho Hang-Seok Chang Yong Sang Lee Sanghee Kim Cheong Soo Park |
| author_facet | Kyung Ah Park So Yeon Eum Hyeonjung Oh Myung Hae Cho Hang-Seok Chang Yong Sang Lee Sanghee Kim Cheong Soo Park |
| author_sort | Kyung Ah Park |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Globally, cancer patients obtain much of their disease information online. Online health communities allow patients to share questions and information about diseases. However, there have been few studies on the factors affecting online health community participation behavior in cancer patients. Online social networking is associated with mental health problems, and patients with thyroid cancer experience high levels of distress, anxiety and depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with use of online health communities by patients with thyroid cancer to understand the characteristics of patients participating in such online communities. A questionnaire survey was completed by 114 thyroid cancer patients admitted for surgery at a general hospital in Seoul, Korea. General characteristics, clinical characteristics, attitude toward cancer, distress, and anxiety and depression scores of patients who joined an online health community (user group) and patients who did not (non-user group) were compared. The factors affecting online health community participation were education (p = 0.049), tumor size (p = 0.010), attitude toward cancer (p = 0.022), and anxiety and depression (p = 0.021). The average score of satisfaction with the online health community was 4.25 of 5. The user group had larger tumors, a high awareness of the risk of thyroid cancer, and high levels of anxiety and depression. Patients who actively used the online health community have relatively larger cancer size and had higher levels of mental stress. As such patients are often very anxious and depend heavily on the gathered information, the quality of this information is important. Healthcare professionals need to develop appropriate interventions for patients participating in the online health community. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:16:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a011f708cd47487789cdc66e10c503de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T20:16:14Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-a011f708cd47487789cdc66e10c503de2022-12-22T04:04:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01156e023505610.1371/journal.pone.0235056Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer.Kyung Ah ParkSo Yeon EumHyeonjung OhMyung Hae ChoHang-Seok ChangYong Sang LeeSanghee KimCheong Soo ParkGlobally, cancer patients obtain much of their disease information online. Online health communities allow patients to share questions and information about diseases. However, there have been few studies on the factors affecting online health community participation behavior in cancer patients. Online social networking is associated with mental health problems, and patients with thyroid cancer experience high levels of distress, anxiety and depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with use of online health communities by patients with thyroid cancer to understand the characteristics of patients participating in such online communities. A questionnaire survey was completed by 114 thyroid cancer patients admitted for surgery at a general hospital in Seoul, Korea. General characteristics, clinical characteristics, attitude toward cancer, distress, and anxiety and depression scores of patients who joined an online health community (user group) and patients who did not (non-user group) were compared. The factors affecting online health community participation were education (p = 0.049), tumor size (p = 0.010), attitude toward cancer (p = 0.022), and anxiety and depression (p = 0.021). The average score of satisfaction with the online health community was 4.25 of 5. The user group had larger tumors, a high awareness of the risk of thyroid cancer, and high levels of anxiety and depression. Patients who actively used the online health community have relatively larger cancer size and had higher levels of mental stress. As such patients are often very anxious and depend heavily on the gathered information, the quality of this information is important. Healthcare professionals need to develop appropriate interventions for patients participating in the online health community.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235056 |
| spellingShingle | Kyung Ah Park So Yeon Eum Hyeonjung Oh Myung Hae Cho Hang-Seok Chang Yong Sang Lee Sanghee Kim Cheong Soo Park Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer. PLoS ONE |
| title | Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer. |
| title_full | Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer. |
| title_fullStr | Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer. |
| title_short | Factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer. |
| title_sort | factors affecting online health community participation behavior in patients with thyroid cancer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235056 |
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