Program in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
J Med Internet Res. 2023 Jan 10;25:e39155. doi: 10.2196/39155.
The use of social media in health care may serve as a beneficial tool for education, information dissemination, telemedicine, research, networking, and communications. To better leverage the benefits of social media, it is imperative to understand the patterns of its use and potential barriers to its implementation in health care. A previous study in 2016 that investigated social media use among young clinical rheumatologists (≤45 years) and basic scientists showed that there was substantial social media use among them for social and professional reasons. However, there is a limited inquiry into social media use in different areas of rheumatology, such as spondyloarthritis.
We aimed to explore the motivations, barriers, and patterns of social media use among an international group of experts in spondyloarthritis.
We distributed a web-based survey via email from March 2021 to June 2021 to 198 members of the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society. It contained 24 questions about demographic characteristics, patterns of current social media use, and perceptions of utility. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the characteristics associated with use trends.
The response rate was 78.8% (156/198). Of these, 93.6% (146/156) of participants used at least one social media platform. Apart from internet-based shopping and entertainment, the use of social media for clinical updates (odds ratio [OR] 6.25, 95% CI 2.43-16.03) and research updates (OR 3.45, 95% CI 1.35-8.78) were associated with higher social media consumption. Among the respondents, 66% (103/156) used social media in a work-related manner. The use of social media for new web-based resources (OR 6.55, 95% CI 2.01-21.37), interaction with international colleagues (OR 4.66, 95% CI 1.21-17.90), and establishing a web-based presence (OR 4.05, 95% CI 1.25-13.13) were associated with higher levels of consumption for work-related purposes. Time investment, confidentiality concerns, and security concerns were the top 3 challenges to a wider adoption of social media.
Most respondents (103/156, 66%) use social media in a work-related manner. Professional development, establishing a web-based presence, and international collaboration were associated with higher use. Challenges to social media adoption should be addressed to maximize its benefits.
社交媒体在医疗保健中的应用可以作为教育、信息传播、远程医疗、研究、网络和交流的有益工具。为了更好地利用社交媒体的优势，了解其使用模式和在医疗保健中实施的潜在障碍至关重要。2016 年的一项研究调查了年轻临床风湿病学家（≤45 岁）和基础科学家使用社交媒体的情况，结果表明他们出于社交和职业原因大量使用社交媒体。然而，对于风湿病学不同领域（如脊柱关节炎）中社交媒体的使用情况，调查有限。
我们旨在探讨国际脊柱关节炎专家群体使用社交媒体的动机、障碍和模式。
我们于 2021 年 3 月至 2021 年 6 月通过电子邮件向 198 名评估脊柱关节炎国际协会成员发送了一份基于网络的调查。其中包含 24 个关于人口统计学特征、当前社交媒体使用模式和感知效用的问题。我们进行了单变量和多变量逻辑回归分析，以确定与使用趋势相关的特征。
回复率为 78.8%（156/198）。其中，93.6%（146/156）的参与者至少使用了一种社交媒体平台。除了网络购物和娱乐外，使用社交媒体获取临床更新（比值比[OR]6.25，95%置信区间[CI]2.43-16.03）和研究更新（OR3.45，95%CI1.35-8.78）与更高的社交媒体消费相关。在受访者中，66%（103/156）以工作相关的方式使用社交媒体。使用新的基于网络的资源（OR6.55，95%CI2.01-21.37）、与国际同事互动（OR4.66，95%CI1.21-17.90）和建立基于网络的存在（OR4.05，95%CI1.25-13.13）与更高的工作相关消费相关。时间投入、保密性问题和安全问题是更广泛采用社交媒体的前 3 大挑战。
大多数受访者（103/156，66%）以工作相关的方式使用社交媒体。专业发展、建立基于网络的存在和国际合作与更高的使用率相关。应解决社交媒体采用的挑战，以最大限度地发挥其优势。
