“r/Thritis”, Pregnancy, and Parenting: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Reddit Forums to Explore Information Needs and Concerns of Women With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Chew, Caitlin; Rebić, Nevena; Baldwin, Corisande; Amiri, Nasrin; Proulx, Laurie; Vera, Mary A. De

doi:10.1002/acr2.11069

Cited by 36 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…We demonstrated a systematic approach to identifying and applying a thematic approach to analyzing eligible subreddit threads to understand experiences of individuals with RA regarding their mental health. Currently, there is growing literature utilizing Reddit to explore topics and issues experienced by patients with arthritides [32,33]. Features of this widely popular and highly accessed platform including anonymity for users, no word limits on entries, as well as engaged subreddit communities make it particularly suited for discussion of potentially sensitive and stigmatizing topics such as mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights on mental health when living with rheumatoid arthritis: a descriptive qualitative study of threads on the Reddit website

et al. 2020

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Background Reddit is a highly visited social news and discussion website where individuals anonymously ask questions, post opinions and share experiences, which provide a valuable pool of publicly available data. Our objective was to systematically search and analyze threads on the social news website, Reddit, to understand experiences of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) regarding their mental health. Methods We conducted a patient-oriented descriptive qualitative study. We identified threads from two subreddits, “r/Thritis” and “r/Rheumatoid”, using keywords such as “mood”, “mental health”, “stressed”, “depressed”, “anxious” over a 1-year period between June 2018 and June 2019. For included threads, we extracted the title, original post, and corresponding comments and responses. We applied thematic analysis using an inductive approach. Results Of 81 threads identified, we included 27. We identified four themes: 1) Navigating the management of RA explores how the physical impacts of the disease, lack of health resources/support and the complexity of medications affect mental health; 2) Experiencing impact on relationships and social isolation includes experiencing misconceptions of RA, feeling misunderstood and feeling guilt; 3) Experiencing loss, touches on the helplessness brought by challenges with performing self-defining activities such as self-care, work, and childbearing/parenting; and finally, 4) Experiencing emotional struggles captures how tension between fighting through and despair has led some to suicide ideation and thoughts of death. Conclusions Online forums and communities such as Reddit have created opportunities for individuals with RA to share experiences on mental health matters, which they may not necessarily be able to share with others.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights on mental health when living with rheumatoid arthritis: a descriptive qualitative study of threads on the Reddit website

et al. 2020

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View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We demonstrated a systematic approach to identifying and applying a thematic approach to analyzing eligible subreddit threads to understand experiences of individuals with RA regarding their mental health. Currently, there is growing literature utilizing Reddit to explore topics and issues experienced by patients with arthritides (33,34). Features of this widely popular and highly accessed platform including anonymity for users, no word limits on entries, as well as engaged subreddit communities make it particularly suited for discussion of potentially sensitive and stigmatizing topics such as mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights on mental health when living with r/Rheumatoid r/Thritis: A descriptive qualitative study of Reddit threads

Park

Howren

Davidson

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Online forums, where individuals ask questions, discuss opinions and share experiences provide a valuable pool of publicly available data to better understand impacts of disease and associated complications. Our objective was to systematically search and analyze threads on the social news website, Reddit, to understand experiences of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) regarding their mental health. Methods We conducted a patient-oriented descriptive qualitative study. We identified threads from two subreddits, “r/Thritis” and “r/Rheumatoid”, using keywords such as “mood”, “mental health”, “stressed”, “depressed”, “anxious” over a 1-year period between June 2018 and June 2019. For included threads, we extracted the title, original post, and corresponding comments and responses. We applied thematic analysis using an inductive approach. Results Of 81 threads identified, we included 27. We identified four themes: 1) Navigating the management of RA explores how the physical impacts of the disease, lack of health resources/support and the complexity of medications affect mental health; 2) Experiencing impact on relationships and social isolation includes experiencing misconceptions of RA, feeling misunderstood and feeling guilt; 3) Experiencing loss, touches on the helplessness brought by challenges with performing self-defining activities such as self-care, work, and childbearing/parenting; and finally, 4) Experiencing emotional struggles captures how tension between fighting through and despair has led some to suicide ideation and thoughts of death. Conclusions Online forums and communities such as Reddit have created opportunities for individuals with RA to share experiences on mental health matters, which they may not necessarily be able to share with others.

show abstract

“…We demonstrated a systematic approach to identifying and applying a thematic approach to analyzing eligible subreddit threads to understand experiences of individuals with RA regarding their mental health. Currently, there is growing literature utilizing Reddit to explore topics and issues experienced by patients with arthritides (31,32). Features of this widely popular and highly accessed platform including anonymity for users, no word limits on entries, as well as engaged subreddit communities make it particularly suited for discussion of potentially sensitive and stigmatizing topics such as mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights on mental health when living with r/Rheumatoid r/Thritis: A descriptive qualitative study of Reddit threads

Park

Howren

Davidson

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Online forums, where individuals ask questions, discuss opinions and share experiences provide a valuable pool of publicly available data to better understand impacts of disease and associated complications. Reddit is a highly visited social news and discussion website where individuals anonymously ask questions, post opinions and share experiences, which provide a valuable pool of publicly available data. Our objective was to systematically search and analyze threads on the social news website, Reddit, to understand experiences of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) regarding their mental health. Methods: We conducted a patient-oriented descriptive qualitative study. We identified threads from two subreddits, “r/Thritis” and “r/Rheumatoid”, using keywords such as “mood”, “mental health”, “stressed”, “depressed”, “anxious” over a 1-year period between June 2018 and June 2019. For included threads, we extracted the title, original post, and corresponding comments and responses. We applied thematic analysis using an inductive approach. Results: Of 81 threads identified, we included 27. We identified four themes: 1) Navigating the management of RA explores how the physical impacts of the disease, lack of health resources/support and the complexity of medications affect mental health; 2) Experiencing impact on relationships and social isolation includes experiencing misconceptions of RA, feeling misunderstood and feeling guilt; 3) Experiencing loss, touches on the helplessness brought by challenges with performing self-defining activities such as self-care, work, and childbearing/parenting; and finally, 4) Experiencing emotional struggles captures how tension between fighting through and despair has led some to suicide ideation and thoughts of death.Conclusions: Online forums and communities such as Reddit have created opportunities for individuals with RA to share experiences on mental health matters, which they may not necessarily be able to share with others.

show abstract

“r/Thritis”, Pregnancy, and Parenting: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Reddit Forums to Explore Information Needs and Concerns of Women With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Cited by 36 publications

References 21 publications

Insights on mental health when living with rheumatoid arthritis: a descriptive qualitative study of threads on the Reddit website

Insights on mental health when living with rheumatoid arthritis: a descriptive qualitative study of threads on the Reddit website

Insights on mental health when living with r/Rheumatoid r/Thritis: A descriptive qualitative study of Reddit threads

Insights on mental health when living with r/Rheumatoid r/Thritis: A descriptive qualitative study of Reddit threads

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