The Use of a Digital Social Forum in a Parkinson's Disease Risk Cohort: A Thematic Analysis of Forum Messages.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Reduced social engagement is associated with increased risk of incident Parkinson's disease (PD). Online peer support provides opportunities to develop new social connections. A digital social forum was recently embedded within PREDICT-PD, an online UK cohort study that stratifies participants for risk of future PD, to explore the feasibility of digital social engagement as an intervention to modify PD risk.

Objective

This study reports on the content of messages exchanged on the forum to better understand how this was used and experienced.

Methods

364 public posts from 218 distinct users were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

Members created a sense of community through disclosing personal information and reaching out to others. Experiences

SUBMITTER: Smith LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12903991 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature