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BackgroundThere is currently a lack of information about the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals from primary research. ObjectiveTo review the current published literature to identify the uses, benefits, and limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals, and identify current gaps in the literature to provide recommendations for future health communication research. MethodsThis paper is a review using a systematic approach. A systematic search of the literature was conducted using nine electronic databases and manual searches to locate peer-reviewed studies published between January 2002 and February 2012. ResultsThe search identified 98 original research studies that included the uses, benefits, and/or limitations of social media for health communication among the general public, patients, and health professionals. The methodological quality of the studies assessed using the Downs and Black instrument was low; this was mainly due to the fact that the vast majority of the studies in this review included limited methodologies and was mainly exploratory and descriptive in nature. Seven main uses of social media for health communication were identified, including focusing on increasing interactions with others, and facilitating, sharing, and obtaining health messages. The six key overarching benefits were identified as (1) increased interactions with others, (2) more available, shared, and tailored information, (3) increased accessibility and widening access to health information, (4) peer/social/emotional support, (5) public health surveillance, and (6) potential to influence health policy. Twelve limitations were identified, primarily consisting of quality concerns and lack of reliability, confidentiality, and privacy. ConclusionsSocial media brings a new dimension to health care as it offers a medium to be used by the public, patients, and health professionals to communicate about health issues with the possibility of potentially improving health outcomes. Social media is a powerful tool, which offers collaboration between users and is a social interaction mechanism for a range of individuals. Although there are several benefits to the use of social media for health communication, the information exchanged needs to be monitored for quality and reliability, and the users’ confidentiality and privacy need to be maintained. Eight gaps in the literature and key recommendations for future health communication research were provided. Examples of these recommendations include the need to determine the relative effectiveness of different types of social media for health communication using randomized control trials and to explore potential mechanisms for monitoring and enhancing the quality and reliability of health communication using social media. Further robust and comprehensive evaluation and review, using a range of methodologies, are required to establish whether social media improves health communication practice both in the short and long terms.

Background Research into the use of digital technology for weight loss maintenance (intentionally losing at least 10% of initial body weight and actively maintaining it) is limited. The aim of this article was to systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting on the use of digital technologies for communicating on weight loss maintenance to determine its' effectiveness, and identify gaps and areas for further research. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted by searching electronic databases to locate publications dated between 2006 and February 2018. Criteria were applied, and RCTs using digital technologies for weight loss maintenance were selected. Results Seven RCTs were selected from a total of 6541 hits after de-duplication and criteria applied. Three trials used text messaging, one used e-mail, one used a web-based system and two compared such a system with face-to-face contact. From the seven RCTs, one included children (n = 141) and reported no difference in BMI Standard Deviation between groups. From the seven trials, four reported that technology is effective for significantly aiding weight loss maintenance compared with control (no contact) or face-to face-contact in the short term (between 3 and 24 months). Conclusions It was concluded that digital technologies have the potential to be effective communication tools for significantly aiding weight loss maintenance, especially in the short term (from 3 to 24 months). Further research is required into the long-term effectiveness of contemporary technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]