Engaging Asthmatic Teens in Symptom Control Using Facebook
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Abstract
Background: Over 9.6 million (13.1%) American children have been diagnosed with asthma, contributing to about 3% of hospital stays and nearly 13 million school absences each year. The prevalence of asthma among children is generally higher in the Northeast (over 9.8%) compared to the rest of the United States. According to the NIH, many asthma attacks could be prevented with proper self-monitoring. Despite the fact that 9 out of 10 American teenagers regularly access to the Internet, online tools have been underutilized in addressing the problem of poor asthma symptom monitoring.
Objective: The goals of the current study were to better understand whether and how teens with asthma are likely to use social networking tools, and specifically Facebook, to become more engaged in their own symptom management. The results will guide the design of an online platform for teens with asthma that aims to increase regular self-monitoring of symptoms.
Methods: We carried out a focus group with six Boston-area teens with asthma (male=3, female=3, ages 15-17). Questions were posed to the group first about their use of Facebook and other social networking tools, then about their experience of living with asthma, and finally about how they do or would use online resources to better manage their asthma. All participants completed symptom rating surveys prior to starting the focus group.
Results: On the Asthma Control Test (ACT), three of the teens described their symptoms as well-controlled (ACT score ≥ 20) and three described their symptoms as poorly controlled or on the border (ACT ≤ 19). Most of the participants felt that they lacked knowledge about how to manage their asthma and would benefit from access to reliable resources for answers to their questions. In particular, they expressed confusion about when to use their inhalers or nebulizers and wanted a heuristic from their physicians that would more effectively guide their symptom management. Several participants described engaging in denial or avoidance related to managing their asthma symptoms. Their own uncertainty about how to manage certain symptoms decreased the likelihood that they would address management issues directly. All participants acknowledged feeling reluctant to tell peers about their asthma. All participants reported using Facebook regularly. None used Facebook as a tool for learning about asthma or connecting with other teens with asthma. However, most wished they could pose questions about their asthma to a reliable online source. They also indicated an interest in learning from a peer role model with asthma who could teach them how to better manage their own symptoms. Several participants suggested that Twitter could also be an effective platform for this.
Conclusions: Results of this focus group study suggest that teens with asthma want to learn more about their condition and how to better manage it, though they lack the means to do so. These findings will guide the design of a behavioral study of asthmatic teens within a Facebook application that aims to improve patient engagement and symptom monitoring.
Objective: The goals of the current study were to better understand whether and how teens with asthma are likely to use social networking tools, and specifically Facebook, to become more engaged in their own symptom management. The results will guide the design of an online platform for teens with asthma that aims to increase regular self-monitoring of symptoms.
Methods: We carried out a focus group with six Boston-area teens with asthma (male=3, female=3, ages 15-17). Questions were posed to the group first about their use of Facebook and other social networking tools, then about their experience of living with asthma, and finally about how they do or would use online resources to better manage their asthma. All participants completed symptom rating surveys prior to starting the focus group.
Results: On the Asthma Control Test (ACT), three of the teens described their symptoms as well-controlled (ACT score ≥ 20) and three described their symptoms as poorly controlled or on the border (ACT ≤ 19). Most of the participants felt that they lacked knowledge about how to manage their asthma and would benefit from access to reliable resources for answers to their questions. In particular, they expressed confusion about when to use their inhalers or nebulizers and wanted a heuristic from their physicians that would more effectively guide their symptom management. Several participants described engaging in denial or avoidance related to managing their asthma symptoms. Their own uncertainty about how to manage certain symptoms decreased the likelihood that they would address management issues directly. All participants acknowledged feeling reluctant to tell peers about their asthma. All participants reported using Facebook regularly. None used Facebook as a tool for learning about asthma or connecting with other teens with asthma. However, most wished they could pose questions about their asthma to a reliable online source. They also indicated an interest in learning from a peer role model with asthma who could teach them how to better manage their own symptoms. Several participants suggested that Twitter could also be an effective platform for this.
Conclusions: Results of this focus group study suggest that teens with asthma want to learn more about their condition and how to better manage it, though they lack the means to do so. These findings will guide the design of a behavioral study of asthmatic teens within a Facebook application that aims to improve patient engagement and symptom monitoring.
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