ReviewJournal of medical Internet research2009
A survey of health-related activities on second life.
Review in Journal of medical Internet research, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A decade of research on the use of three-dimensional virtual worlds in health care: a systematic literature review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2014Pooled it
- A new dimension of health care: systematic review of the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication.Journal of medical Internet research · 2013Pooled it
- Persuasive features in web-based alcohol and smoking interventions: a systematic review of the literature.Journal of medical Internet research · 2011Pooled it
- A virtual reality intervention (Second Life) to improve weight maintenance: Rationale and design for an 18-month randomized trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2016Trial
- Community Health Worker Diabetes Prevention Awareness Training in an Immersive Virtual World Environment: Mixed Methods Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- The Second Life Metaverse and Its Usefulness in Medical Education After a Quarter of a Century.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Review
- Training Scientific Communication Skills on Medical Imaging within the Virtual World Second Life: Perception of Biomedical Engineering Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Transforming health through the metaverse.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2022Article
- The Symbiosis of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy and Telemental Health: A Review.Frontiers in virtual reality · 2022Article
- A serious-gamification blueprint towards a normalized attention.Brain informatics · 2021Article
- Telepsychiatry and the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health in Post-COVID-19 India: A Scoping Review on Opportunities.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2020Article
- AR-Therapist: Design and Simulation of an AR-Game Environment as a CBT for Patients with ADHD.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Potential Reduction of Symptoms With the Use of Persuasive Systems Design Features in Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Programs for Children and Adolescents With Anxiety: A Realist Synthesis.JMIR mental health · 2019Review
- Second Life and Classroom Environments: Comparing Small Group Teaching and Learning in Developing Clinical Reasoning Process Skills.Medical science educator · 2019Article
- Strategies to Increase Latino Immigrant Youth Engagement in Health Promotion Using Social Media: Mixed-Methods Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2018Article
- The Untapped Potential of the Gaming Community: Narrative Review.JMIR serious games · 2018Article
- Head-Mounted Virtual Reality and Mental Health: Critical Review of Current Research.JMIR serious games · 2018Review
- Telemental Health Care, an Effective Alternative to Conventional Mental Care: a Systematic Review.Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH · 2017Article
- Acceptance, Usability and Health Applications of Virtual Worlds by Older Adults: A Feasibility Study.JMIR research protocols · 2016Article
- What Role Can Avatars Play in e-Mental Health Interventions? Exploring New Models of Client-Therapist Interaction.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIncreasingly, governments, health care agencies, companies, and private groups have chosen Second Life as part of their Web 2.0 communication strategies. Second Life offers unique design features for disseminating health information, training health professionals, and enabling patient education for both academic and commercial health behavior research.
objectivesThis study aimed to survey and categorize the range of health-related activities on Second Life; to examine the design attributes of the most innovative and popular sites; and to assess the potential utility of Second Life for the dissemination of health information and for health behavior change.
methodsWe used three separate search strategies to identify health-related sites on Second Life. The first used the application's search engine, entering both generic and select illness-specific keywords, to seek out sites. The second identified sites through a comprehensive review of print, blog, and media sources discussing health activities on Second Life. We then visited each site and used a snowball method to identify other health sites until we reached saturation (no new health sites were identified). The content, user experience, and chief purpose of each site were tabulated as well as basic site information, including user traffic data and site size.
resultsWe found a wide range of health-related activities on Second Life, and a diverse group of users, including organizations, groups, and individuals. For many users, Second Life activities are a part of their Web 2.0 communication strategy. The most common type of health-related site in our sample (n = 68) were those whose principle aim was patient education or to increase awareness about health issues. The second most common type of site were support sites, followed by training sites, and marketing sites. Finally, a few sites were purpose-built to conduct research in SL or to recruit participants for real-life research.
conclusionsStudies show that behaviors from virtual worlds can translate to the real world. Our survey suggests that users are engaged in a range of health-related activities in Second Life which are potentially impacting real-life behaviors. Further research evaluating the impact of health-related activities on Second Life is warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.