The Effect of Sharing Experience via Social Networking on the General Health of Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial Study

Background: Patients undergoing hemodialysis may have a low level of general health. However, sharing experience via Social Networks is proposed to help patients with chronic illness. We aimed to determine the effects of sharing experiences via social networking on the general health of dialysis patients.Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted at Al-Kindi and Imam Ali hospitals in Baghdad (Iraq) in ۲۰۲۱. Seventy two hemodialysis patients were selected through the convenient method and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. At first, both groups completed the demographic information questionnaire and the general health questionnaire. Then, the experimental group received necessary training on how to interact using WhatsApp to share the experience and the control group received routine care. Immediately after the intervention, the General Health Questionnaire was completed by two groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version ۲۵.۰).Results: There was no significant differences between the mean score of general health before the intervention in to two groups (P > ۰.۰۵). Nevertheless, after intervention in the experimental group, the mean of general health score decreased from ۳۵.۲ ± ۱۲.۸ to ۲۹.۸ ± ۸.۴ immediately after the intervention (p<۰.۰۵). According to the findings young people, employed, and without underlying disease people had a higher level of general health (p<۰.۰۵). Conclusion: Based on the results, sharing experience via social networking were effective in reducing general health scores. There was a significant relationship between age, job status, and underlying disease and higher level of general health. Therefore, the use of sharing experiences via social networking can improve the general health level in these patients.

کلیدواژه ها:

General health ، Hemodialysis ، Iraq ، WhatsApp ، Social Networking