Popoola-Samuel Helen A O, Bhuchakra Hamsa Priya, Tango Tamara, Pandya Naisargi Dharmendrakumar, Narayan Kiran Lakshmi
Neurology, Rush University College of Health Sciences, Chicago, USA.
Neurology, Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Hyderabad, IND.
Cureus. 2023 Jul 10;15(7):e41664. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41664. eCollection 2023 Jul.
Social media has many advantages as a tool in the healthcare industry. On the other hand, the disadvantages of using social media to obtain data include the unequal quality of uncontrolled and unchecked content. Our study aimed to assess the accuracy of the information on epilepsy or issues relevant to epilepsy observed on social media.
A semi-structured online questionnaire was employed, which incorporated a reliability index and a global quality index. Five different hashtags were used to obtain the Instagram posts, i.e., #seizure, #seizures, #seizuredisorder, #seizureawareness, and #seizurefree.
A total of 431 Instagram posts related to seizures were collected, of which 76.8% contained true information. Moreover, 6.3% of the total posts (n = 27) contained promotional content. The data were then divided into groups A and B based on their involvement in active patient care. Statistically, group A posts had more correct information being circulated when compared to group B (p = 0.000387). Group A posts also had a statistically significant higher mean global quality score (p = 0.0033).
This current study provides a comprehensive reference on the usage of social media in epilepsy to assess the veracity of the information on epilepsy and related topics.
社交媒体作为医疗行业的一种工具具有诸多优势。另一方面，利用社交媒体获取数据的缺点包括未经控制和核查的内容质量参差不齐。我们的研究旨在评估在社交媒体上观察到的有关癫痫或与癫痫相关问题的信息的准确性。
采用了一份半结构化在线问卷，其中纳入了可靠性指数和整体质量指数。使用了五个不同的标签来获取Instagram上的帖子，即#癫痫发作、#癫痫发作情况、#癫痫病症、#癫痫认知和#无癫痫发作。
总共收集了431条与癫痫发作相关的Instagram帖子，其中76.8%包含真实信息。此外，总帖子数的6.3%（n = 27）包含促销内容。然后根据其在积极患者护理中的参与情况将数据分为A组和B组。从统计学角度来看，与B组相比，A组帖子传播的正确信息更多（p = 0.000387）。A组帖子的平均整体质量得分在统计学上也显著更高（p = 0.0033）。
本研究为社交媒体在癫痫领域的应用提供了全面参考，以评估有关癫痫及相关主题信息的真实性。
