Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34878994›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2021

Information Patients With Melanoma Spontaneously Report About Health-Related Quality of Life on Web-Based Forums: Case Study.

Rachel R J Kalf, Diana M J Delnoij, Bettina Ryll, Marcel L Bouvy, Wim G Goettsch

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article 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 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Development and validation of the Essen Melanoma Quality of Life Inventory (EMQoLI).Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG · 2026
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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.

Rachel R J KalfDepartment of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, University Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-9029-4713
Diana M J DelnoijNational Health Care Institute, Diemen, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2066-9604
Bettina RyllMelanoma Patient Network Europe, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-2652-8474
Marcel L BouvyDepartment of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, University Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4596-0684
Wim G GoettschDepartment of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, University Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8022-7496

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is a general agreement on the importance of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This type of information is becoming increasingly important for the value assessment of health technology assessment agencies in evaluating the benefits of new health technologies, including medicines. However, HRQoL data are often limited, and additional sources that provide this type of information may be helpful.

objectiveWe aim to identify the HRQoL topics important to patients with melanoma based on web-based discussions on public social media forums.

methodsWe identified 3 public web-based forums from the United States and the United Kingdom, namely the Melanoma Patient Information Page, the Melanoma International Forum, and MacMillan. Their posts were randomly selected and coded using qualitative methods until saturation was reached.

resultsOf the posts assessed, 36.7% (150/409) of posts on Melanoma International Forum, 45.1% (198/439) on MacMillan, and 35.4% (128/362) on Melanoma Patient Information Page focused on HRQoL. The 2 themes most frequently mentioned were mental health and (un)certainty. The themes were constructed based on underlying and more detailed codes. Codes related to fear, worry and anxiety, uncertainty, and unfavorable effects were the most-often discussed ones.

conclusionsWeb-based forums are a valuable source for identifying relevant HRQoL aspects in patients with a given disease. These aspects could be cross-referenced with existing tools and they might improve the content validity of patient-reported outcome measures, including HRQoL questionnaires. In addition, web-based forums may provide health technology assessment agencies with a more holistic understanding of the external aspects affecting patient HRQoL. These aspects might support the value assessment of new health technologies and could therefore help inform topic prioritization as well as the scoping phase before any value assessment.

Indexed as

MelanomaSocial MediaHumansQuality of LifeUnited Kingdomhealth careQoLquality of lifereimbursement decision-making

Identifiers

PMID34878994
PMCPMC8693198

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Registered trials

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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.