A qualitative evaluation of communication in Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities

Social network sites use is increasingly daily. While many health related communities now exist on Facebook; the issue of arising potential drawbacks of online communities is the matter of debate. This study aimed to investigate the content of communication in Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities (i) to determine the users of Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities (ii) to understand the content of communication in Ovarian Cancer Facebook communities (iii) to examine the extent of exchanging incorrect health information and posting negative feeling in patient support Facebook communities. To this end content analysis technique was applied, 10 largest Facebook communities related to the Ovarian Cancer were selected then a thematic coding scheme was developed and random sample of the most recent wall posts and discussion topics were evaluated. Patients with Ovarian Cancer and their care takers provide queries and feedback related to personal health related information like experiences for cancer management; they also provide emotional support but potential disadvantages such as unconventional medical information and negative feeling were infrequent. © 2013 Infonomics Society