ArticleSurgical endoscopy2021
Facebook groups provide effective social support to patients after bariatric surgery.
Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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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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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying Social Media-Based Interactions That Help Adults to Adhere to Weight Loss Goals: A Systematic Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Social media use among patients before and after metabolic and bariatric surgery: a systematic review.Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery · 2025Pooled it
- 'Journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- Introduction Long-Term Effects of Professional and Non-professional Support on a Healthy Lifestyle Following Bariatric Surgeries.Obesity surgery · 2025Article
- A Structured Social Media Health Support Program after Bariatric Surgery.Applied clinical informatics · 2024Observational
- A twitter analysis of patient and family experience in pediatric spine surgery.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2023Article
- The complexity of obesity-related health problems after bariatric surgery: The patient perspective.Obesity pillars · 2023Article
- Assessing the Accuracy of Responses by the Language Model ChatGPT to Questions Regarding Bariatric Surgery.Obesity surgery · 2023Article
- Patients' and caregivers' perceptions of bariatric surgery: A France and United States comparative infodemiology study using social media data mining.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Information needs of patients undergoing bariatric surgery in Germany: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- The opportunities and challenges of social media in interstitial lung disease: a viewpoint.Respiratory research · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSocial support after bariatric surgery is considered essential. Unfortunately, patient participation in such groups tends to be limited threatening their effectiveness. Facebook groups may provide a social support option that attracts more participation. The aim of this study was to describe our experience with the administration of a Facebook social support group and evaluate its perceived value by our bariatric patients.
methodsAfter IRB approval, all Facebook group posts since its establishment in 2015 were reviewed and a thematic analysis was undertaken. Group members also completed a survey related to their Facebook group experience and its perceived value. Responses were collected using 5-point Likert scales. In addition, 30 members were phone interviewed using open-ended questions and their responses were analyzed.
resultsOver 4 years, the group accumulated 12,507 posts, 104,053 comments, and 197,594 reactions. On average, members check the group page more than once per day. Ten common themes were identified in the submitted posts: questions, motivation related, education related, diet related, physical activity related, current status updates, sharing failures, social, random/humorous and other. Members reported that the group helped them do well with their procedure (3.3/5) particularly due to the motivation of others' successful stories (3.5/5) and made them feel understood (3.9/5) even though it offered limited help controlling their eating habits (2.7/5). The phone interviews suggested that the Facebook group offered constant support, was simple to use, and provided the sole social support for many patients. They most appreciated the motivational posts that kept them on track and the assistance/comments of clinical staff. In contrast, they disliked repeated questions/spam and negative stories shared by some members.
conclusionsFacebook groups can provide effective social support to patients after bariatric surgery. Peers educate, answer questions, and motivate patients by sharing their positive experiences. Whether this online connectedness also positively impacts patient outcomes requires further study.
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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.