Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34722089›Full record

ArticleCureus2021

The Use of Internet and Social Media for Health Information and Its Consequences Among the Population in Saudi Arabia.

Sarah A AlMuammar, Afnan S Noorsaeed, Raghad A Alafif, Yumna F Kamal, Ghaida M Daghistani

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
63citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

63 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sarah A AlMuammarFamily Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Afnan S NoorsaeedMedicine and Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine, Jeddah, SAU.
Raghad A AlafifMedicine and Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine, Jeddah, SAU.
Yumna F KamalMedicine and Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine, Jeddah, SAU.
Ghaida M DaghistaniMedicine and Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Medicine, Jeddah, SAU.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Internet is being increasingly used in our lives. Along with Internet use, social media sites are especially popular and are used by many people on a daily basis.

methodA cross-sectional study was conducted in Saudi Arabia during the year 2021. An Arabic online questionnaire using Google forms was sent to a randomized sample. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used for data entry, and statistical analysis was performed using IBM© SPSS© Statistics version 25 (IBM© Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

resultAmong the 1363 participants, 56.2% were females and 43.8% were males with a mean age of 30.73 ± 12.3. The majority were living in Western region. The most used social media platforms were WhatsApp (91.5%), YouTube (84.6%), and Twitter (82.6%), respectively. The most common medical websites browsed were the Saudi Ministry of Health (67%) and the Food and Drug Administration (54.4%). Some 40.1% of the participants had a medical consultation online from a doctor, and most of them (67.8%) trusted the online physician. Finally, most of the participants (90.9%) thought that health information on the Internet or social media contributes to raising the level of health awareness among the general population. There was a significant relationship between educational level and gender and online health-seeking behavior (p > 0.05).

conclusionThe study reinforced that health information that is sought from the Internet and social media platforms has a great impact on the population, emphasizing the need for credible information sources and how to access them.

Indexed as

health informationinternetsocial media platformtelemedicineweb searchwhatsapp

Identifiers

PMID34722089
PMCPMC8551798

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.