Table 2.

Characteristics of social networks involved in the management of participants’ long-term respiratory condition.

Participant number	Network sizea	Densityb	Effect sizec	Degree,d mean (SD)	Maximum degreee	Kin proportionf	Average tie weightg	Named health care professionals	Any contacts on the web?
N1	8	39	5.7	2.7 (5)	5	37	1.50	GPh and COPDi nurse	No
N2	7	0	7	0j	0	14	1.57	Out-of-hours GP	Yes
N3	7	23	5.73	1.4 (2)	2	42	1.85	GP and practice chest nurse	No
N4	10	13	8.9	1.2	4	20	1.7	GP and nurses, pharmacists, and consultant	Yes
N5	5	50	3.4	2	3	60	2	None	Yes
N6	7	23	5.5	1.4 (2)	4	42	1.14	GP and respiratory care staff	No
N7	6	33	4.45	1.6 (6)	2	0	1.66	GP	No

^aTotal number of unique social contacts.

^bRatio of the number of ties to maximum possible number of ties.

^cEffective size is the number of the ego’s nonredundant contacts based on the Burt measure.

^dAverage degree of a network member excluding the ego.

^eMaximum degree of network member (most popular) excluding the ego.

^fProportion of network members who are kin.

^gNode strength or degree.

^hGP: general practitioner.

ⁱCOPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

^jFor some participants the tool could not calculate the SD and therefore only the mean is reported.