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Categorization of Medically-relevant Inquiries from Online Discussion Forums

Kleman, Nadine
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1545172252981572

Abstract Details

2018, BS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
Technological advances have increased the accessibility of health information. Thus, this study examined the use of public online discussion forums by parents of children with type 1 diabetes to find information regarding their child’s disease. Type 1 diabetes treatment includes many daily routines, including insulin injections and blood glucose checks. Information related to these routines can be shared through online discussions, highlighting the need to categorize posts, especially those containing medically-relevant information. For this study, four unmoderated, publicly accessible online discussion forums were analyzed: Children with Diabetes, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Type One Nation, The Global Diabetes Community, and the American Diabetes Association. Posts by parents of children with type 1 diabetes were extracted if deemed medically relevant, that is, if they addressed information that could affect the child’s physical health. The users’ medical questions were then extracted from these posts. Analyzing the medical questions formed ten separate categories pertaining to the child’s physical health. Questions regarding treatment options were most prevalent. The results show that parents of children with type 1 diabetes ask a wide variety of medical questions pertaining to their child’s health in public online discussion forums. From this, healthcare professionals can better understand the nature of online information accessible to their patients and families. In the future, medical information on moderated online discussion forums can also be analyzed and compared with medical information on unmoderated sites for parents of children with type 1 diabetes.
Beth Wildman, PhD (Advisor)
Psychology

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Citations

  • Kleman, N. (2018). Categorization of Medically-relevant Inquiries from Online Discussion Forums [Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1545172252981572

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kleman, Nadine. Categorization of Medically-relevant Inquiries from Online Discussion Forums. 2018. Kent State University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1545172252981572.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kleman, Nadine. "Categorization of Medically-relevant Inquiries from Online Discussion Forums." Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1545172252981572

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Categorization of Medically-relevant Inquiries from Online Discussion Forums by Nadine Kleman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University Honors College and OhioLINK.