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Bariatric surgery on social media: A cross-sectional study.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Scarano Pereira, JP; Martinino, A; Manicone, F; Scarano Pereira, ML; Iglesias Puzas, Á; Pouwels, S; Martínez, JM
Published in: Obesity research & clinical practice
March 2022

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.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.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).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.

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Published In

Obesity research & clinical practice

DOI

ISSN

1871-403X

Publication Date

March 2022

Volume

16

Issue

2

Start / End Page

158 / 162

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Media
  • Self-Help Groups
  • Obesity
  • Humans
  • Endocrinology & Metabolism
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Bariatric Surgery
  • 4206 Public health
  • 4202 Epidemiology
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Scarano Pereira, J. P., Martinino, A., Manicone, F., Scarano Pereira, M. L., Iglesias Puzas, Á., Pouwels, S., & Martínez, J. M. (2022). Bariatric surgery on social media: A cross-sectional study. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 16(2), 158–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orcp.2022.02.005
Scarano Pereira, Juan Pablo, Alessandro Martinino, Francesca Manicone, María Luisa Scarano Pereira, Álvaro Iglesias Puzas, Sjaak Pouwels, and Julio Mayol Martínez. “Bariatric surgery on social media: A cross-sectional study.Obesity Research & Clinical Practice 16, no. 2 (March 2022): 158–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orcp.2022.02.005.
Scarano Pereira JP, Martinino A, Manicone F, Scarano Pereira ML, Iglesias Puzas Á, Pouwels S, et al. Bariatric surgery on social media: A cross-sectional study. Obesity research & clinical practice. 2022 Mar;16(2):158–62.
Scarano Pereira, Juan Pablo, et al. “Bariatric surgery on social media: A cross-sectional study.Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, vol. 16, no. 2, Mar. 2022, pp. 158–62. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2022.02.005.
Scarano Pereira JP, Martinino A, Manicone F, Scarano Pereira ML, Iglesias Puzas Á, Pouwels S, Martínez JM. Bariatric surgery on social media: A cross-sectional study. Obesity research & clinical practice. 2022 Mar;16(2):158–162.
Journal cover image

Published In

Obesity research & clinical practice

DOI

ISSN

1871-403X

Publication Date

March 2022

Volume

16

Issue

2

Start / End Page

158 / 162

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Media
  • Self-Help Groups
  • Obesity
  • Humans
  • Endocrinology & Metabolism
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Bariatric Surgery
  • 4206 Public health
  • 4202 Epidemiology
  • 3202 Clinical sciences