Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Aug 3, 2021
Date Accepted: Mar 31, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Social support in women with potential Essure-related complaints: an analysis of Facebook group content
ABSTRACT
Background:
Social support groups are an important resource for people to cope with problems. Previous studies have reported the different types of support in these groups, but little is known about the type of reactions that sharing of personal experiences induce among members. It is important to know how and to what extent members of support groups influence each other regarding the consumption of medical care. We researched this in a online Facebook group of women sterilized with Essure®. Essure® was a device for permanent contraception. From 2015 onwards, women treated with Essure® for tubal occlusion raised safety concerns and experience numerous of complaints.
Objective:
To evaluate the use of social support in a Facebook community of Essure® Problems Netherlands.
Methods:
All post in a closed online Facebook group named: Essure Problems Netherlands between March 8 and May 8 of 2018 were included. In total 3,491 Facebook posts were analysed using a modified version on the social support behaviour code created by Cutrona and Suhr (1992). Posts were abstracted and aggregated into a database. Two investigators evaluated the posts, developed a modified version on the social support behaviour code book, and applied codes to data.
Results:
Results show that 92% messages contained a form of social support. In 68,8% of posting social support was given and in 31,2% social support was received. Informational and emotional support are the most frequently used form of given social support (53.4 and 43.6%, respectively). The same distribution is seen with receiving social support: informational support in 81,5% and emotional in 17,4% of the cases.
Conclusions:
The main purpose of women in the Essure® problems group was to give and receive informational and/or emotional support.
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