Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26589638›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2015

Measuring Use of Health-Related Support on the Internet: Development of the Health Online Support Questionnaire (HOSQ).

Susanne Mattsson, Erik Martin Gustaf Olsson, Sven Alfonsson, Birgitta Johansson, Maria Carlsson

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Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Susanne MattssonLifestyle and Rehabilitation in Long Term Illness, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. susanne.mattsson@pubcare.uu.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7322-0205

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSocial support plays an important role for the perceived health in people with health problems and chronic diseases. Provision of different kinds of support during the disease trajectory is crucial for many people. Online support is ubiquitous and represents a promising modality for people with chronic diseases. There are no existing instruments that measure various aspects of online support.

objectiveThe objective of this study was to create a generic questionnaire regarding health-related support online that can be applied to people with various health problems and illnesses. Additionally, we wanted to test the questionnaire in a cancer population to assess its adequacy in the context of severe disease.

methodsInitial items for the Health Online Support Questionnaire (HOSQ) were inspired by sociologist James House regarding social support. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted in healthy persons or with minor health problems (n=243) on 31 initial items. The scale was reduced to 18 items and the internal consistency and reliability of the scale was examined along with content validity. Further validation was conducted by a confirmatory analysis on the 18-item scale in a cancer population (n=215). In addition, data on demographics, health problems experienced, and Internet use were collected.

resultsThe exploratory factor analysis on the final 18-item scale resulted in 2 factors. After scrutinizing the content, these factors were labeled "reading" and "interacting" and they demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach alphas .88 and .77, respectively). The factors were confirmed in the cancer population. The response pattern revealed expected differences both between the interaction and reading scales and according to age, gender, education, and health problems thereby supporting the validity of the HOSQ.

conclusionsThe HOSQ may be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the use of online support for people with health problems, but the results ought to be replicated in more studies to confirm the results for different diagnoses. If the results of this study are corroborated by future studies, the HOSQ may be used as a basis for the development of different forms of support on the Internet.

Indexed as

Social SupportAdultFemaleHumansInternetMaleReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and QuestionnairesTelemedicineInternetoncologyquestionnairessocial support

Identifiers

PMID26589638
PMCPMC4704881

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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.