Abstract

IMPORTANCES OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN DIABETES MANAGEMENT AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION

Sunila Mary H., Deeksha Shereen*, Devadath S. P., Reuben Dsouza Franklin, Gokul Krishnan M. K., Hamid Saeed and A. R. Shabaraya

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of social media usage on people with diabetes. In this study a cross-sectional survey was carried out with a random sample of183 people with all type of diabetes. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The study shows detailed data of the respondents in the field of gender, age, nationality, social status, education qualification and career status. It also gives an idea about what type of diabetes the participants have, for how long they had diabetes, treatment regimen, other complications and their family history with the disease. This study showed that the amount of male participants were significantly more than the female participants. Most of the participants agreed that social media is a useful tool in raising awareness about diabetes and more than half of the participants thought that social media interactions are cheaper than medical consultation. The participants used social media for diabetes related purposes mainly to get general information about diabetes and physical activity requirements along with necessary lifestyle changes. A few participants also used social media for mental and emotional support and to join therapy groups. The findings of this study indicated that most of the diabetic patients used social media to find information about exercise and diet, information related to diabetes and information about the quality of life and social and emotional aspects of people with diabetes.

Keywords: Social Media, People with Diabetes, Dakshina Kannada, Survey.