JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social media has become a widely-used way for people to share opinions about healthcare and medical topics. Social media data can be leveraged to understand patient concerns and provide insight into why patients may turn to the internet instead of the health care system for health advice.

Objective:

To investigate Reddit posts discussing medical conditions and characterize their implications.

Methods:

We collected one year of Reddit posts containing the phrases “get tested” and “get checked.” An initial selection of posts was manually read by the investigators to categorize posts into topics. A script was then developed to automatically assign topics to additional posts, based on keywords. Topic assignment was then performed on the entire one-year Reddit dataset. Related topics were grouped into broader medical disciplines. Analysis of the topic assignments was then performed to assess condition and medical topic frequencies in medical condition-focused subreddits and general subreddits.

Results:

Among all topics, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), eye disorders, anxiety, and pregnancy had the highest post frequency. Of the broader medical disciplines, the most frequent were psychiatry and mental health; genitourinary and reproductive health; infectious disease; and endocrinology, nutrition, and metabolism. Overall, conditions that appeared most frequently as a top-five condition in general subreddits included addiction and drug anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), abuse, and STIs.

Conclusions:

Certain medical conditions and topics are predominant on Reddit; we reflect on why those topics may receive more discussion.