The experiences and informational needs of women electing bariatric surgery: A qualitative content analysis of an online support forum.

IF 2.5 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Journal of Health Psychology Pub Date : 2025-05-08 DOI:10.1177/13591053251337218

Jasmine Lester, Anna Chur-Hansen

{"title":"The experiences and informational needs of women electing bariatric surgery: A qualitative content analysis of an online support forum.","authors":"Jasmine Lester, Anna Chur-Hansen","doi":"10.1177/13591053251337218","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to explore how women leveraged online peer support to discuss their experiences and seek information related to bariatric surgery. Specifically, it sought to determine whether women are adequately prepared for the unique challenges associated with bariatric surgery and identify potential areas for improving preoperative education and support. An online search identified the Bariatric Pal online forum and sub-forum The Gals Room, of which 289 posts were selected and analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Five categories were developed: Connection with Forum Community; Life After Bariatric Surgery; Physical Symptoms and Experiences; Healthcare Concerns and Experiences; and Psychological Experiences. The findings highlight gaps in preoperative education for women, particularly regarding reproductive health and emphasise the value of online peer support in coping with and managing chronic health conditions. Further research is needed to inform improvements in preoperative and postoperative support for individuals undergoing bariatric surgery.","PeriodicalId":51355,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"13591053251337218"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Health Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053251337218","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how women leveraged online peer support to discuss their experiences and seek information related to bariatric surgery. Specifically, it sought to determine whether women are adequately prepared for the unique challenges associated with bariatric surgery and identify potential areas for improving preoperative education and support. An online search identified the Bariatric Pal online forum and sub-forum The Gals Room, of which 289 posts were selected and analysed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Five categories were developed: Connection with Forum Community; Life After Bariatric Surgery; Physical Symptoms and Experiences; Healthcare Concerns and Experiences; and Psychological Experiences. The findings highlight gaps in preoperative education for women, particularly regarding reproductive health and emphasise the value of online peer support in coping with and managing chronic health conditions. Further research is needed to inform improvements in preoperative and postoperative support for individuals undergoing bariatric surgery.

查看原文本刊更多论文

选择减肥手术的女性的经验和信息需求：在线支持论坛的定性内容分析。

这项研究旨在探讨女性如何利用在线同伴支持来讨论她们的经历并寻求与减肥手术相关的信息。具体来说，它旨在确定女性是否为减肥手术相关的独特挑战做好了充分的准备，并确定改善术前教育和支持的潜在领域。通过在线搜索，确定了“减肥之友”在线论坛和分论坛“the Gals Room”，从中选择了289个帖子，并使用传统的定性内容分析对其进行了分析。开发了五个类别：与论坛社区的联系；减肥手术后的生活；身体症状和经历；医疗保健问题和经验；心理体验。调查结果突出了妇女术前教育方面的差距，特别是在生殖健康方面，并强调了在线同伴支持在应对和管理慢性健康状况方面的价值。需要进一步的研究来改善对接受减肥手术的个体的术前和术后支持。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Health Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

3.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： ournal of Health Psychology is an international peer-reviewed journal that aims to support and help shape research in health psychology from around the world. It provides a platform for traditional empirical analyses as well as more qualitative and/or critically oriented approaches. It also addresses the social contexts in which psychological and health processes are embedded. Studies published in this journal are required to obtain ethical approval from an Institutional Review Board. Such approval must include informed, signed consent by all research participants. Any manuscript not containing an explicit statement concerning ethical approval and informed consent will not be considered.