Sharing sensitive health information through social media in the Arab world.

BACKGROUND: Sharing daily activities on social media has become a part of our lifestyle, but little is known about sharing sensitive health information in the Arab world. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to explore how social media users in the Arab world share sensitive health information through Facebook. DESIGN: A retrospective qualitative analysis was used in the study. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 110 Facebook groups, related to HIV, sickle cell and depression were screened between 5 June and 1 December 2014. RESULTS: Forty four Facebook groups met the inclusion criteria. 28 471 posts were extracted, of which 649 met inclusion criteria. Forty two percent of health information exchanged were related to HIV, 34% to depression and 24% to sickle cell diseases. The majority of postings were from Egypt 21.1%, Saudi Arabia 20%, Algeria 10% and Libya 9.2%. Male posts were 54.2% while 45.8% were posted by females. Individuals utilized Facebook groups to share personal experiences of their disease 31%, in addition to being used for seeking queries 13.6%, offering explicit advice 8.3%, reporting signs and symptoms of the disease 7.3% and posting their communication with the health-care provider 6.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Users in the Arab world use social media to exchange sensitive health information, which could have serious implications regarding the privacy of the information shared with other members of the group. On the other hand, sharing health information could have positive effects for patients, such as sharing disease experiences and peer support. However, more work is needed to ensure that Facebook users in the Arab world are aware of the potential consequences of sharing sensitive health information through social media.

Awareness to consequences of teeth missing and prosthodontics treatment options among people of Aseer region, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Good teeth play a significant role in keeping a healthy personality and a decent quality of life. Loss of tooth is listed among the top hundred health condition affecting the world population, resulting not only in aesthetic and functional damage but also has negative social impact thus affecting the overall quality of life. It has been estimated to cause 7.6 million disability adjusted life years (DALY). Tooth loss has negative consequences on oral health as it may cause drifting of adjacent teeth or over eruption of opposing teeth, further loss of adjacent tooth and temporomandibular diseases (TMDs). METHODS: This cross sectional study was performed in the clinics of Aseer Dental Centre and King Khalid University during the period from February 2020 to April 2020. In the current study, we kept a 95% level of confidence, precision error of 5%, and we anticipated the awareness among targeted population to be 85%. The sample size for our study was 200. Patients attending the Prosthodontic department for any dental consultation with a prosthetically unrestored partial edentulous areas in oral cavity were the target population. RESULTS: Out of total 200 patients 50% of them were male while 50% of them were female. Mean Age ± S.D = 57.8 ± 22.5. We have observed that demographical variables have significant relationship regarding teeth awareness and treatment. CONCLUSION: Although tooth loss has a high prevalence, the common causes found were dental caries and loosing of teeth. As both these conditions can be prevented, repeated awareness campaign should be carried out in order to increase the awareness regarding oral hygiene..

Exploring the concepts of privacy and the sharing of sensitive health information.

People are increasingly sharing their personal information on social networks such as Facebook. Patients, in particular, join online support groups for specific conditions to get support and share their experience with other members of a social media group. Throughout this process, sensitive health information could be shared by group members as a part of this information exchange and privacy concerns can arise as a result. The purpose of this study is to explore various aspects relating to privacy and the sharing of sensitive health information through social media platforms. Our review found that social media such as Facebook already plays a large role in patients' lives as it helps patients to understand their health conditions and gain support from other people who suffer from the same condition. However, there are major concerns for those patients as their privacy and confidentiality can be harmed by improper use of their posted sensitive health information by governments, hospitals or individuals. More importantly, there is an increased need for laws and legislations that protect and empower patients. We recommend that healthcare organizations collaborate with social media software companies and create educational and awareness campaigns on the impacts of sharing sensitive health information through social media.