The Use of Social Media for Health Research Purposes: Scoping Review.

peer reviewed[en] BACKGROUND: As social media are increasingly used worldwide, more and more scientists are relying on them for their health-related projects. However, social media features, methodologies, and ethical issues are unclear so far because, to our knowledge, there has been no overview of this relatively young field of research. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to provide an evidence map of the different uses of social media for health research purposes, their fields of application, and their analysis methods. METHODS: We followed the scoping review methodologies developed by Arksey and O'Malley and the Joanna Briggs Institute. After developing search strategies based on keywords (eg, social media, health research), comprehensive searches were conducted in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. We limited the search strategies to documents written in English and published between January 1, 2005, and April 9, 2020. After removing duplicates, articles were screened at the title and abstract level and at the full text level by two independent reviewers. One reviewer extracted data, which were descriptively analyzed to map the available evidence. RESULTS: After screening 1237 titles and abstracts and 407 full texts, 268 unique papers were included, dating from 2009 to 2020 with an average annual growth rate of 32.71% for the 2009-2019 period. Studies mainly came from the Americas (173/268, 64.6%, including 151 from the United States). Articles used machine learning or data mining techniques (60/268) to analyze the data, discussed opportunities and limitations of the use of social media for research (59/268), assessed the feasibility of recruitment strategies (45/268), or discussed ethical issues (16/268). Communicable (eg, influenza, 40/268) and then chronic (eg, cancer, 24/268) diseases were the two main areas of interest. CONCLUSIONS: Since their early days, social media have been recognized as resources with high potential for health research purposes, yet the field is still suffering from strong heterogeneity in the methodologies used, which prevents the research from being compared and generalized. For the field to be fully recognized as a valid, complementary approach to more traditional health research study designs, there is now a need for more guidance by types of applications of social media for health research, both from a methodological and an ethical perspective. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040671

Scoping review protocol on the use of social media for health research purposes

Introduction More than one-third of the world population uses at least one form of social media. Since their advent in 2005, health-oriented research based on social media data has largely increased as discussions about health issues are broadly shared online and generate a large amount of health-related data. The objective of this scoping review is to provide an evidence map of the various uses of social media for health research purposes, their fields of applications and their analysis methods.Methods and analysis This scoping review will follow the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework (2005) as well as the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer’s manual. Relevant publications will be first searched on the PudMed/MEDLINE database and then on Web of Science. We will focus on literature published between January 2005 and April 2020. All articles related to the use of social media or networks for health-oriented research purposes will be included. A first search will be conducted with some keywords in order to identify relevant articles. After identifying the research strategy, a two-part study selection process will be systematically applied by two reviewers. The first part consists of screening titles and abstracts found, thanks to the search strategy, to define the eligibility of each article. In the second part, the full texts will be screened and only relevant articles will be kept. Data will finally be extracted, collated and charted to summarise all the relevant methods, outcomes and key findings in the articles.Ethics and dissemination This scoping review will provide an extensive overview of the use of social media for health research purposes. Opportunities as well as future ethical, methodological and technical challenges will also be discussed based on our findings to define a new research agenda. Results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication

Digital Health Interventions among People Living with Frailty: A Scoping Review.

peer reviewed[en] OBJECTIVES: Digital health interventions (DHIs) are interesting resources to improve various health conditions. However, their use in the older and frail population is still sparse. We aimed to give an overview of DHI used in the frail older population. DESIGN: Scoping review with PRISMA guidelines based on Population, Concept, and Context. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We included original studies in English with DHI (concept) on people described as frail (population) in the clinical or community setting (context) and no limitation on date of publication. We searched 3 online databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science). MEASURES: We described DHI in terms of purpose, delivering, content and assessment. We also described frailty assessment and study design. RESULTS: We included 105 studies that fulfilled our eligibility criteria. The most frequently reported DHIs were with the purpose of monitoring (45; 43%), with a delivery method of sensor-based technologies (59; 56%), with a content of feedback to users (34; 32%), and for assessment of feasibility (57; 54%). Efficacy was reported in 31 (30%) studies and usability/feasibility in 57 (55%) studies. The most common study design was descriptive exploratory for new methodology or technology (24; 23%). There were 14 (13%) randomized controlled trials, with only 4 of 14 studies (29%) showing a low or moderate risk of bias. Frailty assessment using validated scales was reported in only 47 (45%) studies. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: There was much heterogeneity among frailty assessments, study designs, and evaluations of DHIs. There is now a strong need for more standardized approaches to assess frailty, well-structured randomized controlled trials, and proper evaluation and report. This work will contribute to the development of better DHIs in this vulnerable population

Determinants of patient-reported functional mobility in people with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review

In second step, a systematic review of previous research about determinants on functional mobility is done to decide, what variables to include into the third step of the project quantitative part

Multicomponent (bio)markers for obesity risk prediction:a scoping review protocol

Introduction Despite international efforts, the number of individuals struggling with obesity is still increasing. An important aspect of obesity prevention relates to identifying individuals at risk at early stage, allowing for timely risk stratification and initiation of countermeasures. However, obesity is complex and multifactorial by nature, and one isolated (bio)marker is unlikely to enable an optimal risk stratification and prognosis for the individual; rather, a combined set is required. Such a multicomponent interpretation would integrate biomarkers from various domains, such as classical markers (eg, anthropometrics, blood lipids), multiomics (eg, genetics, proteomics, metabolomics), lifestyle and behavioural attributes (eg, diet, physical activity, sleep patterns), psychological traits (mental health status such as depression) and additional host factors (eg, gut microbiota diversity), also by means of advanced interpretation tools such as machine learning. In this paper, we will present a protocol that will be employed for a scoping review that attempts to summarise and map the state-of-the-art in the area of multicomponent (bio) markers related to obesity, focusing on the usability and effectiveness of such biomarkers. Methods and analysis PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and Embase databases will be searched using predefined key terms to identify peer-reviewed articles published in English until January 2024. Once downloaded into EndNote for deduplication, CADIMA will be employed to review and select abstracts and full-text articles in a two-step procedure, by two independent reviewers. Data extraction will then be carried out by several independent reviewers. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews and Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies guidelines will be followed. Combinations employing at least two biomarkers from different domains will be mapped and discussed. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not required; data will rely on published articles. Findings will be published open access in an international peer-reviewed journal. This review will allow guiding future directions for research and public health strategies on obesity prevention, paving the way towards multicomponent interventions.</p