Impact of social media use on depression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: Results of a cross-sectional study

Introduction

Social media is a powerful tool in providing information and support for patients with chronic diseases. The aim was to assess the link between using social media and depression in a sample population of Turkish ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.

Materials and methods

The patients completed a self-administered questionnaire, which was designed by the authors. Their demographic data, educational status, diagnosis, and favorite social network were also recorded. The Beck Depression Inventory-IA amended (revised) (BDI-IA-Turkish) was used to screen the AS patients for depression.

Results

A total of 155 AS patients were included in the study. The depression scores of the patients who used the Internet (12.18 ± 6.85) and social media (12.35 ± 6.90) were compared with those who did not (27.19 ± 10.51 vs. 25.20 ± 11.66) and a significant difference (p ≤ 0.001) was found. Smartphone users were in the majority (73.5%). WhatsApp was the preferred social network (66.5%), followed by Facebook (52.9%), Instagram (52.3%), Twitter (19.4%) and Pinterest (5.8%). Social media users and non-users were similar in age, gender, educational level and marital status. There were no significant differences in terms of the type and duration of social media use with depression score.

Conclusion

The results of this cross-sectional study confirmed that using social media can help patients with AS to cope with or be less affected by depression. Finding the most appropriate and commonly used form of social media may be an important concept for stewardship in health policies.