Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX.
Virtual Hearing Lab, University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Pretoria, Aurora, CO.
Am J Audiol. 2022 Sep 21;31(3S):1019-1042. doi: 10.1044/2022_AJA-21-00211. Epub 2022 Sep 1.
People are increasingly using social media outlets for gathering health-related information. There has also been considerable interest from researchers and clinicians in understanding how social media is used by the general public, patients, and health professionals to gather health-related information. Interest in the use of social media for audiovestibular disorders has also received attention, although published evidence synthesis of this use is lacking. The objective of this review article was to synthesize existing research studies related to social media use concerning hearing loss, tinnitus, and vestibular disorders.
Comprehensive searches were performed in multiple databases between October and November 2020 and again in June 2021 and March 2022, with additional reports identified from article citations and unpublished literature. This review article was presented using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
A total of 1,512 articles were identified. Of these, 16 publications met the inclusion criteria. Overall, social media offered people the platform to learn about hearing loss, tinnitus, and vestibular disorders via advice and support seeking, personal experience sharing, general information sharing, and relationship building. Research studies were more common on information and user activities seen on Facebook Pages, Twitter, and YouTube videos. Misinformation was identified across all social media platforms for each of these conditions.
Online discussions about audiovestibular disorders are evident, although inconsistencies in study procedures make it difficult to compare these discussion groups. Misinformation is a concern needing to be addressed during clinical consultations as well as via other public health means. Uniform guidelines are needed for research regarding the use of social media so that outcomes are comparable. Moreover, clinical studies examining how exposure to and engagement with social media information may impact outcomes (e.g., help seeking, rehabilitation uptake, rehabilitation use, and satisfaction) require exploration.
人们越来越多地使用社交媒体获取与健康相关的信息。研究人员和临床医生也非常感兴趣，想了解社交媒体是如何被公众、患者和医疗保健专业人员用于获取健康相关信息的。对于使用社交媒体来获取听觉、前庭障碍相关信息的兴趣也受到了关注，尽管缺乏对此类应用的已发表的综合证据。本文的目的是对与听力损失、耳鸣和前庭障碍相关的社交媒体使用的现有研究进行综合分析。
2020 年 10 月至 11 月和 2021 年 6 月及 2022 年 3 月，在多个数据库中进行了全面检索，并通过文章引文和未发表文献确定了其他报告。本综述文章按照系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目进行呈现。
共确定了 1512 篇文章。其中，有 16 篇符合纳入标准。总的来说，社交媒体为人们提供了一个平台，让他们可以通过寻求建议和支持、分享个人经验、分享一般信息和建立关系来了解听力损失、耳鸣和前庭障碍。研究更常见于 Facebook 页面、Twitter 和 YouTube 视频上的信息和用户活动。在所有这些条件下，都在各个社交媒体平台上发现了错误信息。
在线讨论听觉前庭障碍的情况很明显，尽管研究程序的不一致使得比较这些讨论组变得困难。在临床咨询中以及通过其他公共卫生手段，都需要解决错误信息的问题。需要制定关于使用社交媒体的研究的统一准则，以便结果具有可比性。此外，需要探索研究接触和参与社交媒体信息如何影响结果（例如，寻求帮助、康复接受度、康复使用和满意度）的临床研究。
