Twitter and Diabetes

NCT02806700 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: R01: HL122457-0IA1R01HL122457-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 628
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Twitter use is surprisingly well represented across broad demographic population segments and health-related messages. The promise of using Twitter is that its use is growing rapidly, it allows the investigators to view communications that were impossible to intercept before, and it potentially provides information faster and less expensively than collection from other media channels. Prior work also supports that social media interventions can improve health behavior change (e.g. weight loss, physical activity) and outcomes.The overarching goals of this proposal are to understand the uses and limitations of this communication channel to improve patients' ability to manage their CV health condition.

Conditions

Diabetes; Cardiovascular Disease

Keywords

Diabetes; Social Media

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Patient Activation Measure (PAM) Score From Baseline

  The Patient Activation Measure (PAM) is a validated and reliable tool that assesses a person's ability to manage their health, using a 100-point total score scale and four activation levels. The total score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better outcomes-specifically, higher scores represent better outcomes. The overall score is summed from individual items, reflecting the level of activation and self-management ability. The four levels are: Level 1 (Score: 0-47.0): Lowest activation, indicating disengagement and lack of confidence in managing health. Level 2 (Score: 47.1-55.1): Some awareness of self-management but limited skills and confidence. Level 3 (Score: 55.2-67.0): Actively trying to manage health but inconsistent success. Level 4 (Score: 67.1-100): Highest activation, indicating confidence and proactive health management.

  baseline and 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Systolic Blood Pressure From Baseline

  baseline and 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Twitter Diabetes Control

NO INTERVENTION

This group will be identified as having diabetes from Twitter. This group will be contacted and asked to complete brief surveys

Twitter Diabetes Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

This group will be identified as having diabetes from Twitter. This group will be contacted and asked to complete brief surveys. This group will be asked to use twitter for heart health ( e.g. tweeting, following, receiving tweets)

Behavioral: Twitter Diabetes Intervention

Interventions

Twitter Diabetes Intervention BEHAVIORAL

This group will be asked to use twitter for heart health ( e.g. tweeting, following, receiving tweets)

Twitter Diabetes Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• diabetes
• uses social media

You may not qualify if:

• \<21 years of age
• pregnant

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania: lead
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Diabetes Mellitus; Cardiovascular Diseases

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Endocrine System Diseases

Limitations and Caveats

The actual impact of regular tweeting about health may not have been fully actualized in this study. Creating de novo content requires a certain amount of inertia, and prior work shows that individuals engage on social media as passive consumers. The study design was intended to be pragmatic and model real-world use of social media, we did not provide any additional nudges, and although a weekly reminder was useful, participants may have needed feedback on how their tweets were being received.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Director of Research
• Organization: Center for Digital Health

digitalhealth@uphs.upenn.edu

2674280125

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 16, 2016
• First Posted: June 21, 2016
• Study Start: June 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2018
• Study Completion: August 1, 2018
• Last Updated: October 21, 2024
• Results First Posted: October 21, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)