Juan Pablo Scarano Pereira1, Alessandro Martinino2, Francesca Manicone2, María Luisa Scarano Pereira3, Álvaro Iglesias Puzas4, Sjaak Pouwels5, Julio Mayol Martínez6. 1. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Pl. de Ramón y Cajal, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jscarano@ucm.es. 2. Università la Sapienza di Roma, Facoltà di Medicina ed Odontoiatria, Viale Regina Elena, 324, 00161 Roma, Italy. 3. Université Polytechnique de Paris, Rte de Saclay, 91120 Palaiseau, France. 4. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Pl. de Ramón y Cajal, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. 5. Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Elisabeth-Tweesteden Hospital, Doctor Deelenlaan 5, 5042 AD Tilburg, The Netherlands. 6. Hospital clínico San Carlos, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria San Carlos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Pl. de Ramón y Cajal, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Bariatric Surgery (BS) represents a viable option for the treatment of obesity and its risks. Nevertheless, it is still being underused by the eligible patient population because of the general lack of information, false beliefs, and the stigmatization of obesity. Social media seems to be a solution for overcoming this problem. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The search terms "Bariatric surgery", "Metabolic surgery", "Obesity surgery" and "Weight loss surgery" were employed to analyze the Twitter accounts and Facebook pages dedicated to Bariatric Surgery. The most relevant metadata from each account was collected and analyzed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: 293 Facebook pages and 122 Twitter accounts were analyzed, being most of them created in the US (42%). No significant differences were found between the mean of followers of both platforms. Medical centers were the biggest creator category with 69.24% of the total number of followers. Although the promotion of medical services accounted for 68.65% of the total number of followers, the promotion of medical products had a significant higher mean of followers. (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Doctors and businesses acknowledge the importance of social media for informing patients about BS and promoting their services. Accounts with commercial purposes presented the highest number of followers. The high number of supporters this commercial content has, along with the relative lack of followers in educational and support groups, could lead to undeliberate decisions in detriment of the patients and their well-being.
INTRODUCTION: Bariatric Surgery (BS) represents a viable option for the treatment of obesity and its risks. Nevertheless, it is still being underused by the eligible patient population because of the general lack of information, false beliefs, and the stigmatization of obesity. Social media seems to be a solution for overcoming this problem. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The search terms "Bariatric surgery", "Metabolic surgery", "Obesity surgery" and "Weight loss surgery" were employed to analyze the Twitter accounts and Facebook pages dedicated to Bariatric Surgery. The most relevant metadata from each account was collected and analyzed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: 293 Facebook pages and 122 Twitter accounts were analyzed, being most of them created in the US (42%). No significant differences were found between the mean of followers of both platforms. Medical centers were the biggest creator category with 69.24% of the total number of followers. Although the promotion of medical services accounted for 68.65% of the total number of followers, the promotion of medical products had a significant higher mean of followers. (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Doctors and businesses acknowledge the importance of social media for informing patients about BS and promoting their services. Accounts with commercial purposes presented the highest number of followers. The high number of supporters this commercial content has, along with the relative lack of followers in educational and support groups, could lead to undeliberate decisions in detriment of the patients and their well-being.
Authors: Marina L Reppucci; Luis De La Torre; Kaci Pickett; Lea Wehrli; Margo M Nolan; Jill Ketzer; Andrea Bischoff Journal: Pediatr Surg Int Date: 2022-05-19 Impact factor: 2.003