Table 1.

State of the art.

	Refs	Authors	Year	Strengths and main outcomes
The influence of social network characteristics on health-related behaviour	2	E. Durkheim	1897	Durkheim studied the connections between individuals and society, demonstrating the usefulness of sociology as a science. Abnormally low or high levels of social integration can result in increased suicide rates
	3	B. A. Pescosolido e S. Georgianna	1989	This article analyses the characteristics of individuals’ social networks to deepen the study of Durkheim’s general proposition regarding the protective power of religion, with regard to suicide
	4	P. S. Bearman e J. Moody	2004	The authors concluded that friendship environment affects suicidality and that female adolescents’ suicidal thoughts are significantly increased by social isolation
	5	A. S. Klovdahl, E. A. Graviss, A. Yaganehdoost, M. W. Ross, A. Wanger, G. J. Adams e J. M. Musser	2001	The authors use social network methods to reconstruct a tuberculosis outbreak network and to quantify the relative importance o persons and places in that outbreak (betweenness’ centrality). This work provides the basis for a new approach to outbreak investigation and disease control
	6	L. A. Meyers, B. Pourbohloul, M. E. Newman, D. M. Skowronski e R. C. Brunham	2005	Traditionally epidemiology assumed that each individual has an equal chance of spreading the disease to everyone else, this study questions this assumption. The authors apply epidemiology methods to the contact network to illustrate that, for a single value of R0, any two outbreaks, even in the same environment, can have very different epidemiological outcomes
	7	S. T. Ennett e K. E. Bauman	1993	Social network theory and analysis were applied to examine the relation between adolescents’ social positions and current smoking prevalence. The authors conclude that the chances of being a smoker are significantly higher for isolated adolescents. The relationship was not explained by demographic variables or the number of friends who smoked
	8	N. A. Christakis e J. H. Fowler	2008	The authors used network analytic methods and longitudinal statistical models to determine the extent of the person-to-person spread of smoking and quitting behaviour. The authors concluded that the social network is relevant to these behaviours
	9	J. Zhang, D. Brackbill, S. Yang, J. Becker, N. Herbert e D. Centola	2016	The authors demonstrate that social networks can play an important role in the design of more effective interventions for increasing children’s physical activity
	10	J. Zhang, D. Brackbill, S. Yang e D. Centola	2015
	11	J. Zhang, D. A. Shoham, E. Tesdahl e S. Gesell	2015
	12	N. A. Christakis e J. . H. Fowler	2007	The authors concluded that the social network is relevant to the behavioural trait of obesity, and obesity appears to spread through social ties
	13	T. W. Valente, S. C. Watkins, M. N. Jato, A. Van Der Straten e L. P. M. Tsitsol	1997	The authors studied the association between social networks and contraceptive use. They concluded that the personal network is associated with contraceptive use. This association is even more significative than the individual characteristics usually considered relevant
The influence of social network characteristics on screening behaviour	14	L. Suarez, L. Lloyd, N. Weiss, T. Rainbolt e L. Pulley	1994	This research aims to determine the extent to which differences in social networks are relevant for adherence to breast and cervical cancer-screening, among low-income Mexican American women. The authors concluded that social networks seem to be a relevant factor for cancer-screening behavior in this group of women
	15	L. Suarez, A. G. Ramirez, R. Villarreal, J. Marti, A. McAlister, G. A. Talavera, E. Trapido e E. J. Perez-Stable	2000	The focus of this research is the influence of social integration on cancer screening participation of Hispanic women. The authors concluded that social networks have the potential to change screening behaviour. However, they also highlight that the influence of the social network was not universal across Hispanic groups and was stronger for Pap smear than for mammography screening behaviour
	16	B. Curbow, J. Bowie, M. A. Garza, K. McDonnell, L. B. Scott, C. A. Coyne e T. Chiappelli	2004	The authors preformed a comprehensive literature review of community-based breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening interventions, aiming to Identify characteristics of the most successful ones. Their results show that effective interventions combined a variety of strategies, including the use of social networks
	17	J. D. Allen, A. M. Stoddard e G. Sorensen	2008	The authors examined the relationship between social network characteristics and adherence to breast cancer screening. The results obtained indicate that social network characteristics have a modest impact on screening, and that previous adherence is the main predictive factor of future behaviour
	18	J. Ye, S. D. Williams e Z. Xu	2009	The aim of this research was to analyse the relationship between social networks and colorectal cancer screening adherence. The authors concluded that individuals who were socially isolated were less likely to adhere to colorectal cancer screening
	19	N. L. Keating, A. J. O’Malley, J. M. Murabito, K. P. Smith e N. A. Christakis	2011	The aim of this research was to assess if adherence to screening for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer is influenced by the screening behaviours of friends, coworkers, and close family members. The authors concluded that the screening behaviours of the network contacts had minimal influence on screening behaviours