BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical education is an increased awareness and use of social media (SocMed) to facilitate learning. However, literature on the use of SocMed in medical education has focused primarily on educator-led teaching activities. Our study aimed to describe SocMed initiatives that were student-led, particularly for information dissemination and peer collaborative learning, and to elicit perceptions of medical students towards such activities.

An online survey on SocMed usage in medical education was sent to all first- and second-year medical students at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine from October to December 2021. The questionnaire collected data on demographics, SocMed habits and preferences, and perceived advantages and disadvantages of SocMed. Descriptive statistics were calculated while the free-text responses were grouped into prominent themes and summarized.

We received a total of 258 responses (71%) out of 361 eligible participants. Overall, 74% found SocMed platforms to be very and extremely helpful; 88% recommended its continued use. The most popular SocMed platforms for different tasks were as follows: Discord for independent study groups and for conducting peer tutoring sessions; Facebook Messenger for reading reminders; Telegram for reading announcements related to academics and administrative requirements, and for accessing material provided by classmates and professors.

The high uptake of SocMed among medical students may be attributed to its accessibility and costefficiency. The use of a particular SocMed platform was dependent on the students’ needs and the platform's features. Students tended to use multiple SocMed platforms that complemented one another. SocMed also had disadvantages, such as the potential to distract from academic work and to become a source of fatigue. Educators must engage with students to understand how SocMed platforms can be integrated into medical education, whether in the physical or virtual learning environment.

BACKGROUND

Acne vulgaris is one of the common skin diseases prompting dermatologic consult. Although prevalent worldwide, knowledge of the public about acne is still lacking. Due to this, content related to acne vulgaris has been a topic of choice on social media platforms.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 patients diagnosed with acne vulgaris aged 18-50 years-old consulting via teledermatology and face-to-face consultation at the Rizal Medical Center. Patients completed a self-administered questionnaire and global acne severity was assessed.

A total of 120 newly d iagnosed patients with acne vulgaris were included in the study, with a mean age of 23.25 years, with a female predominance, household average monthly income less than PhP 10,957 and with mild to moderate acne severity. Majority of the participants used social media to look for treatment options and to gain more knowledge about the disease. The most used platforms were Youtube, Facebook and Tiktok. Short videos were viewed more often and content from dermatologists were preferred. Most commonly tried products are over-the-counted non-pharmaceutical topical products. There was a significant association between the use of social media with age and educational attainment. Furthermore, a significant association between self-medication practices and average household monthly income was seen. No association was seen between acne severity, social media use and self-medication practices.

In summary, the use of social media to access acne-related content was prevalent among young female patients, of lower socioeconomic status diagnosed with mild-moderate acne severity at a tertiary hospital in the Philippines.

BACKGROUND

TikTok is gaining popularity among Filipinos as a source of health-related information. However, there is a concern on the information being disseminated through the platform because misinformation can negatively impact viewers. Hence, the importance of studying health-related videos which can potentially influence belief, behavior, and public health.

This study aimed to describe common themes of health-related videos in TikTok published by Filipino content creators.

A cross-sectional design using qualitative analysis was utilized. One hundred of the most popular videos under #HealthTokPh were collected. Interesting segments were identified and coded. Codes were analyzed through qualitative thematic analysis to create the initial set of themes. Themes were reviewed and refined until the final set of themes was determined. Final themes were analyzed to create a coherent narrative.

There were three main themes among TikTok videos: reproductive and sexual health, infectious diseases, and dermatology. Misinformation was encountered in twelve videos; nine featured healthcare professionals addressing it while three were created by laypeople and had misleading content. Themes were discussed by healthcare professionals to answer questions from TikTok users. Videos showed content creators speaking throughout the video with visual aids such as on-screen texts, diagrams, and product samples. Use of humor and trending background music were more frequent among videos on reproductive and sexual health. Videos on COVID-19 had the most cited information source namely the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and published journals.

Health-related TikTok videos uploaded by Filipino content creators were on reproductive health, sex education, OTC medications, COVID-19, and acne. Common themes were discussed in a simplified but factual manner and misinformation was addressed by citing credible sources. Humor, trending music, and visual aids contributed to popularity.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Social anxiety arising from intensive social media usage (SMU) among adolescents and youth has gained extensive attention in recent years due to its negative influence on mental health and academic performance. In spite of that, there is a dearth regarding the etiology of SMU-related social anxiety. This study aims to further clarify the influence of introversion personality on SMU-related social anxiety and the mechanism underlying such an association and provide a new perspective for developing effective intervention strategies for the highly prevailing SMU-related anxiety among Chinese college students. METHODS: A cohort of 979 college students (266 males and 713 females) aged 20.90 ± 1.91 years was enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Four measures including the "extroversion" domain of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised, Short Scale (EPQ-R-S E), Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS), Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), and Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users (SAS-SMU) were used to evaluate the influence of introversion personality on SMU-related social anxiety that was potentially mediated sequentially by interaction anxiousness and mobile phone addiction. Hayes PROCESS was used for correlation and mediation analysis. RESULTS: Interaction anxiousness (indirect effect = -1.331, 95% CI : -1.559 - -1.122) partially mediated the association between introversion personality and SMU-related social anxiety. Besides, a sequential mediation of interaction anxiousness and mobile phone addiction in the link between introversion personality and SMU-related social anxiety was revealed (indirect effect = -0.308, 95% CI : -0.404 - -0.220). No significant mediating effect was found with mobile phone addiction in the association between introversion personality and SMU-related social anxiety. CONCLUSION: Targeting interaction anxiousness and mobile phone addiction may represent an efficient strategy alleviating SMU-related social anxiety among Chinese college students with introversion personality.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Social Media ; Students/psychology* ; Anxiety/psychology* ; Young Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Universities ; Behavior, Addictive/psychology* ; Cell Phone ; Adolescent ; Introversion, Psychological ; China ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Internet Addiction Disorder/psychology*

OBJECTIVES: We propose a multimodal model integrating social media text and image data for automated assessment of psychological stress in college students to support the development of intelligent mental health services in higher education institutions. METHODS: Based on deep learning technology, we designed an evaluation framework comprising a text sentiment modeling module, an image sentiment modeling module, and a multimodal fusion prediction module. Text sentiment features were extracted using Bi-LSTM, and image semantic cues were extracted via U-Net. A feature concatenation strategy was used to enable cross-modal semantic collaboration to achieve automatic identification of 3 psychological stress levels: mild, moderate, and severe. We constructed a multimodal annotated dataset using social platform data from 1577 students across multiple universities in Guangdong Province. After data cleaning, 252 samples were randomly selected for model training and testing. RESULTS: In the 3-classification task, the model demonstrated outstanding performance on the test set, and achieved an accuracy of 92.86% and an F1 score of 0.9276, exhibiting excellent stability and consistency. Confusion matrix analysis further revealed the model's ability to effectively distinguish between different pressure levels. CONCLUSIONS The multimodal psychological stress assessment model developed in this study effectively integrates unstructured social behavior data to enhance the scientific rigor and practical applicability of psychological state recognition, and thus provides support for developing intelligent psychological service systems.
Humans ; Stress, Psychological/diagnosis* ; Students/psychology* ; Universities ; Social Media ; Deep Learning

BACKGROUND

Social media platforms have become ubiquitous online tools, fundamentally altering how individuals connect, share information, and interact with the healthcare system. Given the inherently visual nature of skin conditions, the quest for dermatologic information has surged in parallel with the exponential growth of social media over the past decade.

This study aimed to characterize Filipino adults who seek dermatology-related health information on social media and to investigate how this information influences their behavior regarding skin, hair, and nail problems.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2022 using nonprobability, purposive sampling. Data were collected via a validated 16-item online questionnaire distributed across various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Descriptive statistics were computed from Google Form Responses, saved as a Microsoft Excel sheet.

A total of 263 individuals participated in the online survey. The majority of Filipino adult social media users in this study were female (60.5%), single (92%), possessed high educational attainment (53.6% postgraduate degrees), and belonged to the middle-class income bracket (54%). Facebook was identified as the most commonly used social media platform (94.3%). A substantial proportion, approximately 87.5% (230/263), reported using social media to search for health information pertaining to the skin, hair, and/or nails. Crucially, most of these individuals (80.6%) verified the credibility of the information they received. The information gleaned from social media significantly influenced the majority of respondents (74.1%), with reported changes including starting (52.5%), changing (36.5%), and stopping (20.2%) treatment after seeking dermatology-related health information online. More than half of the respondents (51%) subsequently sought consultation with a board-certified dermatologist.

To the investigators’ knowledge, this is the inaugural local descriptive study exploring the characteristics of Filipino patients who leverage social media as a health information tool for dermatologic concerns. The study provides crucial baseline information on how this digital engagement impacts their perception of disease, influences decisions to seek further evaluation and management, and alters treatment compliance. These findings are poised to significantly benefit both patients and healthcare providers in the Philippines.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This study examines how grieving Filipinos use Facebook to cope and find support. It investigates the combination of traditional mourning practices and the influence of social media. By exploring this intersection, the study fills an essential gap in the existing literature on digital mourning within Filipino culture. Understanding these digital bereavement practices can inform palliative care interventions, particularly in providing psychosocial support to grieving families.

The study used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, conducting in-depth interviews with ten bereaved Filipinos selected by specific criteria. Data were gathered through video calls and in-person interviews to explore their experiences, and the qualitative data was thematically analyzed for key insights.

The analysis revealed three key themes: (1) blending mourning traditions with Facebook for emotional support; (2) Facebook interactions that provide relief and validation in grief; and (3) digital mourning experiences that foster healing. Social media enhances grieving practices for Filipinos, allowing them to honor loved ones and strengthen community connections.

The study stresses the need for culturally sensitive digital spaces and grief support services that combine online and offline mourning practices. It calls on healthcare providers and grief counselors to incorporate digital mourning and highlights the need for further research on grief expressions on social media.

BACKGROUND

As social media continue to grow as popular and convenient tools for acquiring and disseminating health information, the need to investigate its utilization by laypersons encountering common medical issues becomes increasingly essential.

This study aimed to analyze the content posted in Facebook groups for Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and how these engage the members of the group.

This study employed an inductive content analysis of user-posted content in both public and private Facebook groups catering specifically to G6PD deficiency. The G6PD Facebook groups with 10 or more posts within the past 12 months were selected for this study. Data were harvested from posts and comments using ExportComment.

A total of 46 G6PD-related Facebook groups were identified. Of which, 19 were public and 27 were private groups, with an average membership of 5000-6000 accounts. After eligibility based on criteria and authorization for private groups, 3 public and 3 private groups were included, with the majority of these groups focused on sharing information. Five main themes of posted content were identified: diagnosis, management, beliefs, psychosocial factors, and medical requirements. “Diagnosis”-related posts referred to conversations about the causes and symptoms of G6PD, “management” referred to medication or diet, “beliefs” involved traditional or lay perceptions, “psychosocial factors” referred to posts that disclosed how psychosocial factors influenced G6PD deficiency practices, and “medical requirements” referred to documentation regarding the condition. The bulk of these posts used three strategies for communication: information-requesting, self-disclosure, and promotion of products/services. Information requests were the most common.

The results of the study showed opportunities and challenges in health education on G6PD, especially in evaluating the credibility and accuracy of the information given and received. Looking at the content and manner of communicating information noted, the newborn screening program may improve its advocacy and education campaign, and may develop targeted educational materials and effective dissemination strategies that could clarify, explain, or refute information and beliefs mostly shared on these platforms.

Various studies have highlighted that women are at a higher risk of becoming victims of cyberbullying, with the severity of cyberbullying among women in many countries increasing and the urgency of having necessary intervention steps by governments and legal institutions in place. Nonetheless, the taboo of discussing mental health and individual struggles has hindered victims from disclosing their cyberbullying experiences they have gone through or are still currently experiencing due to the fear of being discriminated against. Therefore, this study aimed to explore cyberbullying from a victim’s perspective among women with heavy social media usage, as well as their coping strategies. A qualitative research design was utilised to understand the cyberbullying experience and coping strategies among five young women aged between 20 to 26 years old. Participants were recruited through social media. Collected data were analysed using thematic analysis which revealed three cyberbullying themes: “harassment”, “relational aggression” and “trolling”, three initial reaction themes: “anger”, “sadness” and “confusion”, two crossroad themes: “helplessness” and “sense of control” that either lead to the relapse of cyberbullying experience or coping strategies, and three coping strategy themes: “social coping”, “emotion-focused coping” and “problem-focused coping” and lastly, cognitive reappraisal. The findings provide comprehensive insights into understanding cyberbullying experiences and coping strategies among women with heavy social media usage. Understanding the effectiveness of various forms of coping allows mental health professionals to support their clients by finding out the implemented coping strategy and expanding on other forms of coping to build a more holistic support for their clients.
Coping Skills ; Cyberbullying ; Social Media ; Women

Background: Acne vulgaris (AV) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that is non-life-threatening but may cause significant psychological morbidity regardless of severity. An extreme case of this is depicted in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which is often an undiagnosed condition presenting with excessive preoccupation of perceived flaws not observable by others. With the increasing popularity of social media throughout the years, there has been budding researches exploring its psychological implications, particularly on “selfies” and its possible association with self-image and body dysmorphia. Objectives: To compare body dysmorphic symptoms and selfie behavior between patients with mild AV versus those without AV. Methods This is a single-center, cross-sectional study among patients with mild AV and those without AV seen through a teledermatology platform of a tertiary hospital from April to June 2022. Results: A total of 207 patients were included in this study – 107 patients with mild AV and 100 patients without AV. A significantly higher proportion of BDD symptoms was seen in patients with mild AV using either Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire-Dermatology Version (BDDQ-DV) (31%) and Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ) (14%). No significant difference was noted in terms of selfie behavior between the groups. Conclusions BDD symptoms were significantly more prevalent in patients who have mild AV despite having lesions that are negligible and clinically not apparent. This highlights the importance of dermatologists’ knowledge that BDD may cause distress and impairment and should be taken into consideration in terms of management. Interestingly, selfie behavior of patients with mild AV and without AV had no significant difference.
Acne Vulgaris ; Social Media