Twitter Social Media is an Effective Tool for Breast Cancer Patient Education and Support: Patient-Reported Outcomes by Survey
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Despite reported benefits, many women do not attend breast cancer support groups. Abundant online resources for support exist, but information regarding the effectiveness of participation is lacking. We report the results of a Twitter breast cancer support community participant survey. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the effectiveness of social media as a tool for breast cancer patient education and decreasing anxiety. METHODS: The Breast Cancer Social Media Twitter support community (#BCSM) began in July 2011. Institutional review board approval with a waiver of informed consent was obtained for a deidentified survey that was posted for 2 weeks on Twitter and on the #BCSM blog and Facebook page. RESULTS: There were 206 respondents to the survey. In all, 92.7% (191/206) were female. Respondents reported increased knowledge about breast cancer in the following domains: overall knowledge (80.9%, 153/189), survivorship (85.7%, 162/189), metastatic breast cancer (79.4%, 150/189), cancer types and biology (70.9%, 134/189), clinical trials and research (66.1%, 125/189), treatment options (55.6%, 105/189), breast imaging (56.6%, 107/189), genetic testing and risk assessment (53.9%, 102/189), and radiotherapy (43.4%, 82/189). Participation led 31.2% (59/189) to seek a second opinion or bring additional information to the attention of their treatment team and 71.9% (136/189) reported plans to increase their outreach and advocacy efforts as a result of participation. Levels of reported anxiety before and after participation were analyzed: 29 of 43 (67%) patients who initially reported "high or extreme" anxiety reported "low or no" anxiety after participation (P<.001). Also, no patients initially reporting low or no anxiety before participation reported an increase to high or extreme anxiety after participation. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that breast cancer patients' perceived knowledge increases and their anxiety decreases by participation in a Twitter social media support group.
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Attai et al noted that Twitter is effective in seeking and providing health-related informational needs.
“Andalibi et al [66] found that these two kinds of support can co-occur with other forms of support, such as posts seeking ES often seeking esteem and network support, and Attai et al [68] noted that Twitter is effective in seeking and providing health-related informational needs, contextually related with our problem of interest.”
From Psychosocial Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Large-scale Quasi-Experimental Study on Social Media (2020) · cites this paper as [68]
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References 21 · Cited by 357
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [2]National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers NAPBC Standards Manual 2014 Edition 2014 2015-04-28 Chicago, IL American College of Surgeons https://www.facs.org/~/media/files/quality%20programs/napbc/2014%20napbc%20standards%20manual.ashx 6Y8GhjbXO
- Authors
- Attai, D. J., Cowher, M. S., Al-Hamadani, M., Schoger, J. M., Staley, A. C., & Landercasper, J.
- Affiliations
- UCLA Health (US)
- Allegheny Health Network (US)
- Gundersen Health System (US)
- Corresponding author
- Attai, Deanna J
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Internet Research
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2015-07-30
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- e188
- ISSN
- 1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4705354
- OpenAlex
- W2159375797
- Cited by
- 357
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 7
- FWCI
- 43.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- breast cancer, Twitter, social media, online support groups, patient education, anxiety, patient knowledge, survivorship, metastatic breast cancer, patient advocacy, second opinion
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Breast Neoplasms, Female, Health Education, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Education as Topic, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self-Help Groups, Social Support, Knowledge, Young Adult, Self Report, Social Media, Patient Outcome Assessment
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