Habits of using social media and the internet in psoriasis patients

Melek Aslan Kayıran; Ayşe Serap Karadağ; İlteriş Oğuz Topal; Esra Adışen; Sevilay Kılıç; Nuray Keskin; Asude Kara Polat; Bengü Çevirgen Cemil; Mualla Polat; Oğuz Yılmaz; Hilal  Ayvaz; Filiz Topaloğlu Demir; Sezgi Sarıkaya Solak; Derya Uçmak; Mehmet Salih Gürel; Sema Aytekin; Algün Polat Ekinci; Kübra Nursel Bölük; Neslihan Şendur; Tuğba Özkök Akbulut; Günseli Öztürk; Ayda Acar; Erkan Alpsoy

doi:10.5826/dpc.1203a143

Habits of using social media and the internet in psoriasis patients

Authors

Melek Aslan Kayıran İstanbul Medeniyet University, Göztepe Prof Dr. Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases
Ayşe Serap Karadağ Ataşehir Memorial Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey
İlteriş Oğuz Topal Health Sciences University, Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşçıoğlu Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey.
Esra Adışen Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Ankara, Turkey
Sevilay Kılıç Çanakkale 18 Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Çanakkale, Turkey
Nuray Keskin Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Ankara, Turkey
Asude Kara Polat Health Sciences University, İstanbul Training and Research Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey
Bengü Çevirgen Cemil Health Sciences University, Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Ankara, Turkey
Mualla Polat Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Bolu, Turkey
Oğuz Yılmaz Akdeniz University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Antalya, Turkey
Hilal Ayvaz Süleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Isparta, turkey
Filiz Topaloğlu Demir İstanbul Medipol University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey
Sezgi Sarıkaya Solak Trakya University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Edirne, Turkey
Derya Uçmak Dicle University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Diyarbakır, Turkey
Mehmet Salih Gürel Istanbul Medeniyet University, Göztepe Prof Dr Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey
Sema Aytekin Health Sciences University, Haydarpaşa Training and Research Hospital Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, turkey
Algün Polat Ekinci İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul Turkey
Kübra Nursel Bölük İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey
Neslihan Şendur Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Aydın, Turkey
Tuğba Özkök Akbulut Health Sciences University, Haseki Training and Research Hospital, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, İstanbul, Turkey
Günseli Öztürk Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases İzmir, Turkey
Ayda Acar Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, İzmir, Turkey
Erkan Alpsoy Akdeniz University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatological and Venereal Diseases, Antalya, Turkey

Keywords:

psoriasis, social media, internet, habit

Abstract

Introduction: Psoriasis significantly affects the patients’ quality of life, which often leads patients to seek online information about this disease.

Objectives: To explore the habits of patients with psoriasis related to their use of SM and the internet to obtain information about their disease.

Methods: 1,520 patients completed the survey and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index scores (PASI) and clinical data of the patients were recorded by their physicians.

Results: Of the 1,114 patients that reported using social media (SM) and the internet, 48.38% regularly and 31.14% sometimes resorted to obtain information about psoriasis. The use of SM and the internet for psoriasis was statistically significantly higher among young people (p=0.000), those with university or higher education (p=0.009), higher DLQI (p=0.000) and PASI (p=0.011) scores, facial (p=0.050), scalp (p=0.032), hand (p=0.048), genital (p=0.001) and inverse (p=0.000) involvement, and arthralgia/arthritis (p=0.006). The participants mostly used the Google (86%) and Facebook (%41). More than half the participants (62.8%) expected dermatologists to inform society that psoriasis is not contagious.

Conclusion: The internet and SM being widely available and offering substantial information to be easily accessed make it very attractive for patients to use these platforms to investigate diseases, including psoriasis. If what is presented on SM conflicts with what the physician says, patients mostly trust the latter, but at the same time, they tend not to share the results of their online inquiries with their physicians.

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