Googling for Suicide-Content and Quality Analysis of Suicide-Related Websites: Thematic Analysis.

HONcode content analysis eHealth health information internet mental health suicide webpage world wide web

Journal

JMIR formative research
ISSN: 2561-326X
Titre abrégé: JMIR Form Res
Pays: Canada
ID NLM: 101726394

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
11 Nov 2021
Historique:
received: 28 03 2021
accepted: 01 10 2021
revised: 11 08 2021
pubmed: 25 10 2021
medline: 25 10 2021
entrez: 24 10 2021
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Suicide represents a public health concern, imposing a dramatic burden. Prosuicide websites are "virtual pathways" facilitating a rise in suicidal behaviors, especially among socially isolated, susceptible individuals. The aim of this study is to characterize suicide-related webpages in the Italian language. The first 5 most commonly used search engines in Italy (ie, Bing, Virgilio, Yahoo, Google, and Libero) were mined using the term "suicidio" (Italian for suicide). For each search, the first 100 webpages were considered. Websites resulting from each search were collected and duplicates deleted so that unique webpages could be analyzed and rated with the HONcode instrument. A total of 65 webpages were included: 12.5% (8/64) were antisuicide and 6.3% (4/64) explicitly prosuicide. The majority of the included websites had a mixed or neutral attitude toward suicide (52/64, 81.2%) and had informative content and purpose (39/64, 60.9%). Most webpages targeted adolescents as an age group (38/64, 59.4%), contained a reference to other psychiatric disorders or comorbidities (42/64, 65.6%), included medical/professional supervision or guidance (45/64, 70.3%), lacked figures or pictures related to suicide (41/64, 64.1%), and did not contain any access restraint (62/64, 96.9%). The major shortcoming to this study is the small sample size of webpages analyzed and the search limited to the keyword "suicide." Specialized mental health professionals should try to improve their presence online by providing high-quality material.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Suicide represents a public health concern, imposing a dramatic burden. Prosuicide websites are "virtual pathways" facilitating a rise in suicidal behaviors, especially among socially isolated, susceptible individuals.
OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to characterize suicide-related webpages in the Italian language.
METHODS METHODS
The first 5 most commonly used search engines in Italy (ie, Bing, Virgilio, Yahoo, Google, and Libero) were mined using the term "suicidio" (Italian for suicide). For each search, the first 100 webpages were considered. Websites resulting from each search were collected and duplicates deleted so that unique webpages could be analyzed and rated with the HONcode instrument.
RESULTS RESULTS
A total of 65 webpages were included: 12.5% (8/64) were antisuicide and 6.3% (4/64) explicitly prosuicide. The majority of the included websites had a mixed or neutral attitude toward suicide (52/64, 81.2%) and had informative content and purpose (39/64, 60.9%). Most webpages targeted adolescents as an age group (38/64, 59.4%), contained a reference to other psychiatric disorders or comorbidities (42/64, 65.6%), included medical/professional supervision or guidance (45/64, 70.3%), lacked figures or pictures related to suicide (41/64, 64.1%), and did not contain any access restraint (62/64, 96.9%). The major shortcoming to this study is the small sample size of webpages analyzed and the search limited to the keyword "suicide."
CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSIONS
Specialized mental health professionals should try to improve their presence online by providing high-quality material.

Identifiants

pubmed: 34689118
pii: v5i11e29146
doi: 10.2196/29146
pmc: PMC8663606
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

e29146

Informations de copyright

©Wen Chen, Andrea Boggero, Giovanni Del Puente, Martina Olcese, Davide Prestia, Haitham Jahrami, Nasr Chalghaf, Noomen Guelmami, Fairouz Azaiez, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 11.11.2021.

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Auteurs

Wen Chen (W)

Department of Psychiatry, Xiamen Xianyue Hospital, Xiamen, China.

Andrea Boggero (A)

Department of Educational Science, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.

Giovanni Del Puente (G)

Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal/Child Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.

Martina Olcese (M)

Department of Educational Science, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.

Davide Prestia (D)

Department of Psychiatry, Istituto di ricovero e cura a carattere scientifico Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.

Haitham Jahrami (H)

College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Bahrain.
Ministry of Health, Manama, Bahrain.

Nasr Chalghaf (N)

Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.

Noomen Guelmami (N)

Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Kef, University of Jendouba, Jendouba, Tunisia.

Fairouz Azaiez (F)

Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.

Nicola Luigi Bragazzi (NL)

Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Classifications MeSH