Inflammatory Bowel Disease Self-Management: Exploring Adolescent Use of an Online Instagram Support Community.
Caeli Malloy, Susan M Rawl, Wendy R Miller
PMID 35833744WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents with IBD posted in an anonymous Instagram support account about diet, school, work, relationships, treatment side effects, symptoms, and wanting a normal life.
Key findings
01The authors analysed 83 eligible Instagram posts and identified six major self-management themes.
02Adolescents sought advice on modifying their diet to manage IBD symptoms and complications, including IBD-specific diets, trigger foods, and diet during a flare.
03Adolescents asked about gastrointestinal and extraintestinal symptoms, including fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, hair loss, poor circulation, and brain fog.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis used only posts from one Instagram account during 2019, so it may not reflect adolescents with IBD elsewhere or in other years. Only users who gave evidence of IBD and being 13 to 24 years old were included, and some adolescents may have been excluded because they did not state their age or school level. Age and diagnosis were self-reported in the posts, not confirmed by a clinician. The sample was small and varied, so the themes may not represent all adolescents with IBD. Inter-coder reliability was not calculated, though all authors agreed on the final themes.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the themes as evidence that Instagram support improves IBD self-management. The study only analysed posts from one account in 2019, and it did not compare users with non-users or measure outcomes.