Open AccessViews and Beliefs of Vitiligo Patients in Online Discussion Forums: A Qualitative Study
Author(s) -
Mary Beth Gadarowski
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
cutis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.289
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 2326-6929
pISSN - 0011-4162
DOI - 10.12788/cutis.0432
Subject(s) - vitiligo , medicine , psychosocial , qualitative research , inclusion (mineral) , content analysis , internet privacy , social media , online discussion , perception , family medicine , psychology , dermatology , world wide web , psychiatry , social psychology , computer science , social science , sociology , neuroscience
Individuals with chronic illnesses turn to online communities to engage in asynchronous peer-to-peer exchanges to better understand and manage their disease. Messages and advice exchanged by online users with vitiligo are not well characterized. We conducted a qualitative study to explore the content exchanged by individuals with vitiligo in online forums. An interpretive research paradigm was utilized to assess public online forum content. A systematic search using the phrases online forum vitiligo support, vitiligo online message board, and vitiligo forums identified 39 relevant forums; 9 of them met inclusion criteria, with 382 total anonymous users. Major themes and subthemes included vitiligo disease management, homeopathy/home remedies, psychosocial impact, public perceptions, and camouflage/concealment.