Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Petek, Elyse
Language:English
Published: The Ohio State University / OhioLINK 2021
Subjects:
Genetics
Social media
Breast Cancer
Cancer
Surgical Decision-Making
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1617891913525326
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu16178919135253262021-10-05T05:10:37Z Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis Petek, Elyse Genetics Social media Breast Cancer Cancer Surgical Decision-Making Introduction: Social media (SM) continues to increase its use and influence on the average person's life, including their health care. SM has many potential healthcare benefits such as enhancing outcomes by empowering patients and their families, optimizing treatment outcomes, limiting treatment-related adverse events, and reducing office visits and hospitalizations (Tucker et al., 2016). While studies have demonstrated SM's utility among patients, there are gaps in the literature regarding its use among breast cancer patients, specifically during the time between diagnosis and their surgical decision (e.g., lumpectomy, mastectomy, or contralateral prophylactic mastectomy CPM). As such, the aims of this study were to (1) explore for what purpose patients are using these sources of SM, (2) examine which sources of SM patients report using during the time between breast cancer diagnosis and surgical decision, and (3) to explore whether the information, impressions, and/or decisions made as a result of using SM complements or contradicts the recommendations and resources patients receive from their healthcare team.Methods: Eleven patients diagnosed with breast cancer (excluding those with stage 4 disease) between October 1, 2018-October 1, 2020 at the Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center participated in semi-structured remote interviews. Interviews explored patients' thoughts, attitudes, and experiences with SM throughout their breast cancer diagnosis, surgery decision-making, and cancer treatments. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach.Results: Three major themes emerged from the interviews: (1) Patients use a variety of SM platforms with Facebook being the most commonly used platform for all uses. Each platform had characteristic use with Facebook, chat rooms, and YouTube/podcasts being the most frequently SM platforms for cancer-related content. (2) Patients used SM only rarely during the time between diagnosis and surgery, and none reported using SM to help make their surgical decisions. SM was, instead, commonly used to validate the surgical decision they made with the aid of their healthcare team. SM use was then increased post-surgery as patients used these platforms often for experiential information to validate their feelings and experience and seek advice on dealing with treatment side effects and life readjustments. Lastly, (3) SM was almost universally acknowledged to complement care from patient care teams with no evidence of conflicts.Conclusion: This study aimed to explore emergent themes in how breast cancer patients use SM during their diagnosis and treatments. While additional research is needed to flesh out these pilot results more fully, it is evident that SM is used by many patients to supplement current health care, aid in coping, and enhance health outcomes. Additionally, our findings provide insight into how patients may not use SM to supplement their health care or surgery decisions. 2021-10-04 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1617891913525326 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1617891913525326 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Genetics
Social media
Breast Cancer
Cancer
Surgical Decision-Making
spellingShingle Genetics
Social media
Breast Cancer
Cancer
Surgical Decision-Making
Petek, Elyse
Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
author Petek, Elyse
author_facet Petek, Elyse
author_sort Petek, Elyse
title Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
title_short Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
title_full Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
title_fullStr Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
title_full_unstemmed Pilot Study: Exploration of How Women Use Social Media After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
title_sort pilot study: exploration of how women use social media after a breast cancer diagnosis
publisher The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2021
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1617891913525326
work_keys_str_mv AT petekelyse pilotstudyexplorationofhowwomenusesocialmediaafterabreastcancerdiagnosis
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