SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2021
Social Media Use for Health Purposes: Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 448 papers, 8 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
448 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Assessment instruments for e-professionalism in healthcare: a systematic review.BMC medical education · 2026Pooled it
- The Impact of Social Media Videos on Quantitative Health Outcomes: Systematic Review.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Implementation of Social Media in Neurosurgery: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Acta neurochirurgica · 2025Pooled it
- Quality of Cancer-Related Information on New Media (2014-2023): Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review of infodemiology studies using artificial intelligence: social media posts on HIV preexposure prophylaxis.AIDS (London, England) · 2025Pooled 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
- Patients' Experiences of Digital Health Interventions for the Self-Management of Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Internet-Based Dementia Risk Reduction Education on Risk and Protective Factor Knowledge, Intentions, and Health Behaviors: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Measuring the effect of short, animated storytelling videos to boost psychological capital in US adults: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effects of a Video of Science Rejection by a Social Media Influencer and User Comments: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Social media utilization to understand the journey and unmet needs of patients with Parkinson's disease in the Philippines.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Article
- Patient narratives in an online hernia peer-support community: a qualitative netnographic analysis.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2026Article
- "Unmasking Misinformation": Characterizing the Social Media Landscape of Disorders of Consciousness on X (formerly Twitter).Research square · 2026Article
- Design Guidelines for Online Health Forums: User-Centered Design Approach.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Information Source-Message Effect on Consumers' Intentions to Adhere to Food Safety Practices When Handling and Preparing Raw Chicken.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Digital Health Engagement Behaviors in US Family Caregivers: Trend Analysis Using the Health Information National Trends Survey 2019-2022 Data.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Beyond the hashtag: a content analysis of #womenshealth posts on Instagram.Health promotion international · 2026Article
- The Impact of Specific Prompt Engineering Techniques on the Readability of LLM-Generated Patient Materials in Gastroenterology and Hepatology.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2026Article
- Investigating Online Discussions About Cancer Screening on Twitter (Subsequently Rebranded as X): Corpus Analysis.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
388 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSocial media has been widely used for health-related purposes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous reviews have summarized social media uses for a specific health purpose such as health interventions, health campaigns, medical education, and disease outbreak surveillance. The most recent comprehensive review of social media uses for health purposes, however, was conducted in 2013. A systematic review that covers various health purposes is needed to reveal the new usages and research gaps that emerge in recent years.
objectiveThis study aimed to provide a systematic review of social media uses for health purposes that have been identified in previous studies.
methodsThe researchers searched for peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2006 and 2020 in 12 databases covering medicine, public health, and social science. After coding the articles in terms of publication year, journal area, country, method, social media platform, and social media use for health purposes, the researchers provided a review of social media use for health purposes identified in these articles.
resultsThis study summarized 10 social media uses for various health purposes by health institutions, health researchers and practitioners, and the public.
conclusionsSocial media can be used for various health purposes. Several new usages have emerged since 2013 including advancing health research and practice, social mobilization, and facilitating offline health-related services and events. Research gaps exist regarding advancing strategic use of social media based on audience segmentation, evaluating the impact of social media in health interventions, understanding the impact of health identity development, and addressing privacy concerns.
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.