Health related virtual communities and electronic support groups: systematic review of the effects of online peer to peer interactions
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OBJECTIVE: To compile and evaluate the evidence on the effects on health and social outcomes of computer based peer to peer communities and electronic self support groups, used by people to discuss health related issues remotely. DESIGN AND DATA SOURCES: Analysis of studies identified from Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Evidence Based Medicine Reviews, Electronics and Communications Abstracts, Computer and Information Systems Abstracts, ERIC, LISA, ProQuest Digital Dissertations, Web of Science. SELECTION OF STUDIES: We searched for before and after studies, interrupted time series, cohort studies, or studies with control groups; evaluating health or social outcomes of virtual peer to peer communities, either as stand alone interventions or in the context of more complex systems with peer to peer components. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Peer to peer interventions and co-interventions studied, general characteristics of studies, outcome measures used, and study results. RESULTS: 45 publications describing 38 distinct studies met our inclusion criteria: 20 randomised trials, three meta-analyses of n of 1 trials, three non-randomised controlled trials, one cohort study, and 11 before and after studies. Only six of these evaluated "pure" peer to peer communities, and one had a factorial design with a "peer to peer only" arm, whereas 31 studies evaluated complex interventions, which often included psychoeducational programmes or one to one communication with healthcare professionals, making it impossible to attribute intervention effects to the peer to peer community component. The outcomes measured most often were depression and social support measures; most studies did not show an effect. We found no evidence to support concerns over virtual communities harming people. CONCLUSIONS: No robust evidence exists of consumer led peer to peer communities, partly because most peer to peer communities have been evaluated only in conjunction with more complex interventions or involvement with health professionals. Given the abundance of unmoderated peer to peer groups on the internet, research is required to evaluate under which conditions and for whom electronic support groups are effective and how effectiveness in delivering social support electronically can be maximised.
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Online health communities are the most robust social media sources for peer-generated health information.
“Online health communities (OHCs)—Internet-based discussion forums where individuals converse with one another about health topics—are the most robust social media sources for peer-generated health information.[9–12]”
From Perceived healthcare provider reactions to patient and caregiver use of online health communities (2014) · cites this paper as [12]
The research to date has failed to identify evidence of benefit (or harm) to users of online peer-support services.
“Unfortunately, the research to date has failed to identify evidence of benefit (or harm) to users of online peer-support services.”
From Web-Based Interventions for Behavior Change and Self-Management: Potential, Pitfalls, and Progress (2012) · cites this paper as [58]
Authors of systematic reviews in this field have highlighted the paucity of comparative data, making it difficult to draw any robust conclusions about the impact of such interventions.
“Authors of systematic reviews in this field have highlighted the paucity of comparative data, making it difficult to draw any robust conclusions about the impact of such interventions [58-60].”
From Web-Based Interventions for Behavior Change and Self-Management: Potential, Pitfalls, and Progress (2012) · cites this paper as [58]
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Internet peer support for individuals with psychiatric disabilities: a randomized controlled trial
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- Authors
- Eysenbach, G., Powell, J., Englesakis, M., Rizo, C., & Stern, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Southampton (GB)
- University Health Network (CA)
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2004-05-13
- Volume
- 328
- Issue
- 7449
- Pages
- 1166
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC411092
- OpenAlex
- W2170722669
- Cited by
- 1,268
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 82 · 2020: 66 · 2019: 70 · 2018: 70 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 99 · 2015: 85 · 2014: 69 · 2013: 87 · 2012: 67
- FWCI
- 7.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mental Health and Patient Involvement
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- online communities, online support groups, peer interaction, online intervention, social support, depression, health outcomes, complex interventions, psychoeducational programme, provider communication, online health communities
- MeSH terms
- Clinical Trials as Topic, Delivery of Health Care, Health Education, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Patient Participation, Peer Group, Self-Help Groups, Social Support, Cohort Studies, Program Evaluation, Health Behavior, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Internet
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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