Motivations of the participants who post a message in an online health forum: a qualitative and quantitative descriptive study in French health forum Doctissimo

Background: For more than 20 years, and despite the development of new social networks, health forums have remained a privileged place for people to discuss health issues. This study investigates the motivations of participants to post a message on a French online health forum (called 'Doctissimo') (Forum Sante - Doctissimo, 2022). Method: Between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019, all the first messages recorded on the health forum doctissimo (www.forum.doctissimo.fr) were selected in their initial format by a crawler. The transcripts were imported into the qualitative analysis software Nvivo. Two researchers coded the data until a theoretical saturation was obtained. Results: We identified four categories of motivation: 1) 'Questioning'allows the exchange of mainly medical information, or sharing of feedback on experiences with the disease: 1722 codes, 44.8%, 2) Worry, need for reassurance: 1066 codes, 27.7% about symptoms or anticipatory anxiety, 3) 'Expressing oneself' mainly allows a catharsis and thus an emotional release, especially negative, but also to share a personal experience: 764 codes 19.9%, 4) Community spirit is a central element to create an emotional support group for psychological support, exchange ideas, meet people in similar situations: 291 codes, 7.6%. The relationship with a health professional when mentioned is generally marked by doubts 39.5%, confusion, or lack of information and the need for additional elements 64.6% or reassurance 60%. The relationship and the obstacles to a medical consultation are described in relation to the use of the forum: immediate availability, anonymity, absence of taboo and community spirit. Conclusion: The use of information sources offered by the Internet is a way to ask questions, to be reassured, to express oneself or to be confirmed by the community in the hypothesis emitted by a health professional. Patients are looking for an immediate answer, they come to the community for reassurance, they feel free and legitimate.