Association of Social Media Recruitment and Depression Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Candidates: Prospective Cohort Study
Jackson M Francis, Sitapriya S Neti, Dhatri Polavarapu, Folefac Atem, Luyu Xie, Olivia Kapera, Matthew S Mathew, Elisa Marroquin, Carrie McAdams, Jeffrey Schellinger, Sophia Ngenge, Sachin Kukreja, Benjamin E Schneider, Jaime P Almandoz, Sarah E Messiah

TL;DR
This study found that people recruited via social media for bariatric surgery research were more likely to have depression, especially younger individuals, and that non-Hispanic Black participants were less likely to be recruited through social media.
Contribution
The study reveals racial and age-based disparities in social media recruitment and its link to depression among bariatric surgery candidates.
Findings
Social media-recruited participants were 67% more likely to report depression than non-social media-recruited participants.
Non-Hispanic Black participants were 60% less likely to be recruited via social media compared to non-Hispanic White participants.
Younger participants with a history of depression were 2.26 times more likely to be recruited via social media.
Abstract
Due to the widespread use of social media and the internet in today’s connected world, obesity and depression rates are increasing concurrently on a global scale. This study investigated the complex dynamics involving social media recruitment for scientific research, race, ethnicity, and depression among metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) candidates. This study aimed to determine (1) the association between social media recruitment and depression among MBS candidates and (2) racial and ethnic differences in social media recruitment engagement. The analysis included data from 380 adult MBS candidates enrolled in a prospective cohort study from July 2019 to December 2022. Race and ethnicity, recruitment method (social media: yes or no), and depression status were evaluated using χ2 tests and logistic regression models. Age, sex, and ethnicity were adjusted in multivariable logistic…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSocial Media in Health Education · Mobile Health and mHealth Applications · Eating Disorders and Behaviors
