Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42416992›Full record

ArticleSouth African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care2026

Crowdsourcing care: What general practitioner WhatsApp groups get right … and wrong.

Magrietha Swart

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

1 author.

Magrietha SwartDr AP Swart Inc., Molteno Anaesthetics, Cape Town. dieswarts@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

With the growing use of WhatsApp groups by general practitioners, there are clear pros and cons to their use. Peer support, easing referral and educational opportunities are thereby supported, but at the cost of potential privacy and data protection issues because of the medium and nature of the technology, and potential legal ramifications of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.Contribution: The use of such groups requires care and attention, and although especially useful, securing data and confidentiality is a potential cause of concern.

Indexed as

ConfidentialityGeneral PractitionersMobile ApplicationsComputer SecurityHumansReferral and ConsultationSouth Africadata breachmedical datapeer supportPOPI ActprivacyreferralWhatsApp group

Identifiers

PMID42416992
PMCPMC13348088

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.