Social network analysis to understand behaviour dynamics in online health communities: A systematic review

Nowadays, online communities are becoming an important resource for health consumers who want to retrieve and share information about health subjects. These communities have the potential to influence patients' health behaviors and increase their engagement with therapies. However, the interaction dynamics in this type of media remains poorly understood what might hinder the development of strategies that facilitate and encourage participation. Social Network Analysis is a technique that tries to expose the hidden channels of communication and information flow, leading to a better understanding of how members relate to each other on online social network. In this study we do a systematic review of the literature regarding the apply this technique in the study of online health communities. We show that this type of studies is scarce and that, in this domain, Social Network Analysis is mainly applied to identify influential key members, as well as the most active members in terms of posting or answering questions.