Social networking and Internet use among pelvic floor patients: a multicenter survey.
BACKGROUND
Internet resources are becoming increasingly important for patients seeking medical knowledge. It is imperative to understand patient use and preferences for using the Internet and social networking websites to optimize patient education.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate social networking and Internet use among women with pelvic floor complaints to seek information for their conditions as well as describe the likelihood, preferences, and predictors of website usage.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional, multicenter study of women presenting to clinical practices of 10 female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery fellowship programs across the United States, affiliated with the Fellows' Pelvic Research Network. New female patients presenting with pelvic floor complaints, including urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and fecal incontinence were eligible. Participants completed a 24 item questionnaire designed by the authors to assess demographic information, general Internet use, preferences regarding social networking websites, referral patterns, and resources utilized to learn about their pelvic floor complaints. Internet use was quantified as high (≥4 times/wk), moderate (2-3 times/wk), or minimal (≤1 time/wk). Means were used for normally distributed data and medians for data not meeting this assumption. Fisher's exact and χ2tests were used to evaluate the associations between variables and Internet use.


RESULTS
A total of 282 surveys were analyzed. The majority of participants, 83.3%, were white. The mean age was 55.8 years old. Referrals to urogynecology practices were most frequently from obstetrician/gynecologists (39.9%) and primary care providers (27.8%). Subjects were well distributed geographically, with the largest representation from the South (38.0%). Almost one third (29.9%) were most bothered by prolapse complaints, 22.0% by urgency urinary incontinence, 20.9% by stress urinary incontinence, 14.9% by urgency/frequency symptoms, and 4.1% by fecal incontinence. The majority, 75.0%, described high Internet use, whereas 8.5% moderately and 4.8% minimally used the Internet. Women most often used the Internet for personal motivations including medical research (76.4%), and 42.6% reported Google to be their primary search engine. Despite this, only 4.9% primarily used the Internet to learn about their pelvic floor condition, more commonly consulting an obstetrician-gynecologist for this information (39.4%). The majority (74.1%) held a social networking account, and 45.9% visited these daily. Nearly half, 41.7%, expressed the desire to use social networking websites to learn about their condition. Women <65 years old were significantly more likely to have high Internet use (83.4% vs 68.8%, P = .018) and to desire using social networking websites to learn about their pelvic floor complaint (P = .008). The presenting complaint was not associated with Internet use (P = .905) or the desire to use social networking websites to learn about pelvic floor disorders (P = .201).


CONCLUSIONS
Women presenting to urogynecology practices have high Internet use and a desire to learn about their conditions via social networking websites. Despite this, obstetrician-gynecologists remain a common resource for information. Nonetheless, urogynecology practices and national organizations would likely benefit from increasing their Internet resources for patient education in pelvic floor disorders, though patients should be made aware of available resources.
Division of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, TriHealth/Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, OH. Electronic address: Donna_Mazloomdoost@trihealth.com.
Donna
D
Mazloomdoost
Division of Urogynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
Gregory
G
Kanter
Department of Urology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX.
Robert C
RC
Chan
Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, Louisville, KY.
Nicolette
N
Deveaneau
Division of Female Pelvic Floor Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
Allison M
AM
Wyman
Division of Female Pelvic Floor Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Auburn Hospital/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School Affiliate, Cambridge, MA.
Emily C
EC
Von Bargen
Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA.
Zaid
Z
Chaudhry
Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Henry Ford Health Systems, Detroit, MI.
Solafa
S
Elshatanoufy
Division of Urogynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Jeannine M
JM
Miranne
Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Christine M
CM
Chu
Division of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, TriHealth/Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, OH.
Rachel N
RN
Pauls
Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Lily A
LA
Arya
Division of Urogynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Methodist Center for Restorative Pelvic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX.
Danielle D
DD
Antosh
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D059952:Pelvic Floor Disorders / Q000601:surgery; D057386:Search Engine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D060756:Social Networking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
Internet; patient preferences; pelvic floor; social media; social networking; survey; urogynecology