Comparing Information Needs of Diabetes Patients in Chinese and American Health Communities of Questions and Answers
Shi Jing, Yuxing Qian, Chenlu Li, Liqin Zhou, Bin Zhang · Studies in health technology and informatics · 2019
This study selects the users generated content in diabetes groups of ManYouBang and DailyStrength which are two representative HCQA (Health Communities of Questions and Answers). Theme coding was applied to identify information needs while social network analysis was used to compare Chinese and American HCQA. In theory, we combine Social Network Analysis and content analysis to capture and contrast the pattern of Q&A in HCQA. On the one hand, the core needs of HCQA are "how to treat the disease" and the "diet" theme is closely related to other themes. On the other hand, the Chinese diabetes communities have "question and answer attributes" while the American diabetes communities have both "question and answer attributes" and "social support attributes." In practice, the founding provides enlightenment for the development of HCQA including improving content quality and strengthen emotional connection and disease treatment infrastructure.