Leveraging Social Media in Underrepresented Populations: A Cross-Sectional Study

Understanding how underrepresented women with pelvic floor disorders use social media can guide clinicians in patient outreach and reducing care disparities.

The objectives of this study were to characterize which social media platforms underrepresented populations use most and identify preferences of use when learning about their conditions.

This cross-sectional survey of underrepresented women used a 21-item questionnaire assessing demographics, internet use, and social media preferences. Descriptive statistics and χ2 tests were performed.

A total of 301 surveys were analyzed. Most participants identified as Hispanic/Latina (65.4%). The mean age was 56.8±14.2 years. Social media use did not differ by race. Participants younger than 65 years were more likely than those 65 years and older to use the internet or social media to learn about their conditions (67.2% vs. 45.4%, P <0.01). More participants younger than 65 years used TikTok (20.1% vs 5.2%, P <0.01) and Instagram (24.5% vs 8.2%, P=0.0011) compared with participants 65 years and older. Participants with ≥4 social media accounts used the internet more often than those without (81% vs 32%, P <0.01). Most participants used Facebook (46.5%) or YouTube (35.5%) to learn about their conditions and would be most interested in using YouTube (27.9%) and Facebook (26.2%) to learn more about their conditions. Most participants preferred physicians use Facebook (35.2%) or YouTube (22.6%).

Our study population reported frequent social media use and interest in learning about their conditions via social media with platform preferences differing by age. Patient education and research recruitment strategies in underrepresented patient populations could be improved by incorporating these platforms.