Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27382585›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of community based nursing and midwifery2016

Online Social Support for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Thematic Analysis of Messages Posted to a Virtual Support Community.

Masoumeh Abbasi Shavazi, Mohammad Ali Morowatisharifabad, Mohammad Taghi Abbasi Shavazi, Masoud Mirzaei, Ali Mellat Ardekani

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Article in International journal of community based nursing and midwifery, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

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12citing 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.

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 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.

Masoumeh Abbasi ShavaziDepartment of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Mohammad Ali MorowatisharifabadDepartment of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Mohammad Taghi Abbasi ShavaziDepartment of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Fars, Iran.
Masoud MirzaeiYazd Cardiovascular Research Centre, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Ali Mellat ArdekaniDepartment of Neurology, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCurrently with the emergence of the Internet, patients have an opportunity to exchange social support online. However, little attention has been devoted to different dimensions of online social support exchanged in virtual support communities for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

methodsTo provide a rich insight, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore and categorize different dimensions of online social support in messages exchanged in a virtual support community for patients with MS. A total of 548 posted messages created during one year period were selected using purposive sampling to consider the maximum variation sampling. Prior-research-driven thematic analysis was then conducted. In this regard, we used the Cutruna and Suhr's coding system. The messages that could not be categorized with the used coding system were thematically analyzed to explore new additional social support themes.

resultsThe results showed that various forms of social support including informational, emotional, network, esteem and tangible support were exchanged. Moreover, new additional social support themes including sharing personal experiences, sharing coping strategies and spiritual support emerged in this virtual support community.

conclusionThe wide range of online social support exchanged in the virtual support community can be regarded as a supplementary source of social support for patients with MS. Future researches can examine online social support more comprehensively considering additional social support themes emerging in the present study.

Indexed as

InternetMultiple sclerosisSelf-help groupsSocial support

Identifiers

PMID27382585
PMCPMC4925998

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