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Valades MT, Montero-Torres M, Lara-Abelenda FJ, Carabot F, Ortega MA, Álvarez-Mon M, Alvarez-Mon MA. Understanding public perceptions and discussions on diseases involving chronic pain through social media: cross-sectional infodemiology study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2024; 25:569. [PMID: 39034398 PMCID: PMC11265081 DOI: 10.1186/s12891-024-07687-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic pain is a highly prevalent medical condition that negatively impacts quality of life and is associated with considerable functional disability. Certain diseases, such as fibromyalgia, headache, paraplegia, neuropathy, and multiple sclerosis, manifest with chronic pain. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine the number and type of tweets (original or retweet) related to chronic pain, as well as to analyze the emotions and compare the societal impact of the diseases under study. METHODS We investigated tweets posted between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022, by Twitter users in English and Spanish, as well as the generated retweets. Additionally, emotions were extracted from these tweets and their diffusion was analyzed. Furthermore, the topics most frequently discussed by users were collected. RESULTS A total of 72,874 tweets were analyzed, including 44,467 in English and 28,407 in Spanish. Paraplegia represented 23.3% with 16,461 of the classified tweets, followed by headache and fibromyalgia with 15,337 (21.7%) and 15,179 (21.5%) tweets, respectively. Multiple sclerosis generated 14,781 tweets (21%), and the fewest tweets were related to neuropathy with 8,830 tweets (12.5%). The results showed that the primary emotions extracted were "fear" and "sadness." Additionally, the reach and impact of these tweets were investigated through the generated retweets, with those related to headaches showing the highest interest and interaction among users. CONCLUSION Our results underscore the potential of leveraging social media for a better understanding of patients suffering from chronic pain and its impact on society. Among the most frequently encountered topics are those related to treatment, symptoms, or causes of the disease. Therefore, it is relevant to inform the patient to prevent misconceptions regarding their illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Valades
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
| | - M Montero-Torres
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - F J Lara-Abelenda
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Signal Theory and Communications, Telematics and Computing Systems, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain
| | - F Carabot
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain
| | - M A Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain
| | - M Álvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain
- Immune System Diseases-Rheumatology and Internal Medicine Service, Center for Biomedical Research in Hepatic and Digestive Diseases Network, University Hospital Principe de Asturias, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - M A Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Ramon y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University Hospital Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
- CIBERSAM-ISCIII, Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Mental Health, Madrid, Spain
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Castillo-Toledo C, Fraile-Martínez O, Donat-Vargas C, Lara-Abelenda FJ, Ortega MA, Garcia-Montero C, Mora F, Alvarez-Mon M, Quintero J, Alvarez-Mon MA. Insights from the Twittersphere: a cross-sectional study of public perceptions, usage patterns, and geographical differences of tweets discussing cocaine. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1282026. [PMID: 38566955 PMCID: PMC10986306 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1282026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Cocaine abuse represents a major public health concern. The social perception of cocaine has been changing over the decades, a phenomenon closely tied to its patterns of use and abuse. Twitter is a valuable tool to understand the status of drug use and abuse globally. However, no specific studies discussing cocaine have been conducted on this platform. Methods 111,508 English and Spanish tweets containing "cocaine" from 2018 to 2022 were analyzed. 550 were manually studied, and the largest subset underwent automated classification. Then, tweets related to cocaine were analyzed to examine their content, types of Twitter users, usage patterns, health effects, and personal experiences. Geolocation data was also considered to understand regional differences. Results A total of 71,844 classifiable tweets were obtained. Among these, 15.95% of users discussed the harm of cocaine consumption to health. Media outlets had the highest number of tweets (35.11%) and the most frequent theme was social/political denunciation (67.88%). Regarding the experience related to consumption, there are more tweets with a negative sentiment. The 9.03% of tweets explicitly mention frequent use of the drug. The continent with the highest number of tweets was America (55.44% of the total). Discussion The findings underscore the significance of cocaine as a current social and political issue, with a predominant focus on political and social denunciation in the majority of tweets. Notably, the study reveals a concentration of tweets from the United States and South American countries, reflecting the high prevalence of cocaine-related disorders and overdose cases in these regions. Alarmingly, the study highlights the trivialization of cocaine consumption on Twitter, accompanied by a misleading promotion of its health benefits, emphasizing the urgent need for targeted interventions and antidrug content on social media platforms. Finally, the unexpected advocacy for cocaine by healthcare professionals raises concerns about potential drug abuse within this demographic, warranting further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Consuelo Castillo-Toledo
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Oscar Fraile-Martínez
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Carolina Donat-Vargas
- Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- IMDEA-Food Institute, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - F. J. Lara-Abelenda
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Departamento Teoria de la Señal y Comunicaciones y Sistemas Telemáticos y Computación, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria de Telecomunicación, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Fuenlabrada, Spain
| | - Miguel Angel Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Cielo Garcia-Montero
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Mora
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Legal Medicine and Psychiatry, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Melchor Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
- Service of Internal Medicine and Immune System Diseases-Rheumatology, University Hospital Príncipe de Asturias, (CIBEREHD), Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Javier Quintero
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Legal Medicine and Psychiatry, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
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Carabot F, Donat-Vargas C, Santoma-Vilaclara J, Ortega MA, García-Montero C, Fraile-Martínez O, Zaragoza C, Monserrat J, Alvarez-Mon M, Alvarez-Mon MA. Exploring Perceptions About Paracetamol, Tramadol, and Codeine on Twitter Using Machine Learning: Quantitative and Qualitative Observational Study. J Med Internet Res 2023; 25:e45660. [PMID: 37962927 PMCID: PMC10685273 DOI: 10.2196/45660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Paracetamol, codeine, and tramadol are commonly used to manage mild pain, and their availability without prescription or medical consultation raises concerns about potential opioid addiction. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of Twitter users concerning these drugs. METHODS We analyzed the tweets in English or Spanish mentioning paracetamol, tramadol, or codeine posted between January 2019 and December 2020. Out of 152,056 tweets collected, 49,462 were excluded. The content was categorized using a codebook, distinguishing user types (patients, health care professionals, and institutions), and classifying medical content based on efficacy and adverse effects. Scientific accuracy and nonmedical content themes (commercial, economic, solidarity, and trivialization) were also assessed. A total of 1000 tweets for each drug were manually classified to train, test, and validate machine learning classifiers. RESULTS Of classifiable tweets, 42,840 mentioned paracetamol and 42,131 mentioned weak opioids (tramadol or codeine). Patients accounted for 73.10% (60,771/83,129) of the tweets, while health care professionals and institutions received the highest like-tweet and tweet-retweet ratios. Medical content distribution significantly differed for each drug (P<.001). Nonmedical content dominated opioid tweets (23,871/32,307, 73.9%), while paracetamol tweets had a higher prevalence of medical content (33,943/50,822, 66.8%). Among medical content tweets, 80.8% (41,080/50,822) mentioned drug efficacy, with only 6.9% (3501/50,822) describing good or sufficient efficacy. Nonmedical content distribution also varied significantly among the different drugs (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Patients seeking relief from pain are highly interested in the effectiveness of drugs rather than potential side effects. Alarming trends include a significant number of tweets trivializing drug use and recreational purposes, along with a lack of awareness regarding side effects. Monitoring conversations related to analgesics on social media is essential due to common illegal web-based sales and purchases without prescriptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Carabot
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carolina Donat-Vargas
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Unit of Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Stockholm, Sweden
- ISGlobal, Institut de Salut Global de Barcelona, Campus MAR, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Javier Santoma-Vilaclara
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Data & AI, Filament Consultancy Group., London, United Kingdom
| | - Miguel A Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Cancer Registry and Pathology Department, Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Cielo García-Montero
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Oscar Fraile-Martínez
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Zaragoza
- Biomedical Sciences Department, University of Alcalá, Pharmacology Unit, Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Jorge Monserrat
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Melchor Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Immune System Diseases-Rheumatology and Internal Medicine Service, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas, University Hospital Príncipe de Asturias, Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Ramon y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
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Carabot F, Fraile-Martínez O, Donat-Vargas C, Santoma J, Garcia-Montero C, Pinto da Costa M, Molina-Ruiz RM, Ortega MA, Alvarez-Mon M, Alvarez-Mon MA. Understanding Public Perceptions and Discussions on Opioids Through Twitter: Cross-Sectional Infodemiology Study. J Med Internet Res 2023; 25:e50013. [PMID: 37906234 PMCID: PMC10646670 DOI: 10.2196/50013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Opioids are used for the treatment of refractory pain, but their inappropriate use has detrimental consequences for health. Understanding the current experiences and perceptions of patients in a spontaneous and colloquial environment regarding the key drugs involved in the opioid crisis is of utmost significance. OBJECTIVE The study aims to analyze Twitter content related to opioids, with objectives including characterizing users participating in these conversations, identifying prevalent topics and gauging public perception, assessing opinions on drug efficacy and tolerability, and detecting discussions related to drug dispensing, prescription, or acquisition. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we gathered public tweets concerning major opioids posted in English or Spanish between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. A total of 256,218 tweets were collected. Approximately 27% (69,222/256,218) were excluded. Subsequently, 7000 tweets were subjected to manual analysis based on a codebook developed by the researchers. The remaining databases underwent analysis using machine learning classifiers. In the codebook, the type of user was the initial classification domain. We differentiated between patients, family members and friends, health care professionals, and institutions. Next, a distinction was made between medical and nonmedical content. If it was medical in nature, we classified it according to whether it referred to the drug's efficacy or adverse effects. In nonmedical content tweets, we analyzed whether the content referred to management issues (eg, pharmacy dispensation, medical appointment prescriptions, commercial advertisements, or legal aspects) or the trivialization of the drug. RESULTS Among the entire array of scrutinized pharmaceuticals, fentanyl emerged as the predominant subject, featuring in 27% (39,997/148,335 posts) of the tweets. Concerning user categorization, roughly 70% (101,259/148,335) were classified as patients. Nevertheless, tweets posted by health care professionals obtained the highest number of retweets (37/16,956, 0.2% of their posts received over 100 retweets). We found statistically significant differences in the distribution concerning efficacy and side effects among distinct drug categories (P<.001). Nearly 60% (84,401/148,335) of the posts were devoted to nonmedical subjects. Within this category, legal facets and recreational use surfaced as the most prevalent themes, while in the medical discourse, efficacy constituted the most frequent topic, with over 90% (45,621/48,777) of instances characterizing it as poor or null. The opioid with the greatest proportion of tweets concerning legal considerations was fentanyl. Furthermore, fentanyl was the drug most frequently offered for sale on Twitter, while methadone generated the most tweets about pharmacy delivery. CONCLUSIONS The opioid crisis is present on social media, where tweets discuss legal and recreational use. Opioid users are the most active participants, prioritizing medication efficacy over side effects. Surprisingly, health care professionals generate the most engagement, indicating their positive reception. Authorities must monitor web-based opioid discussions to detect illicit acquisitions and recreational use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Carabot
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Oscar Fraile-Martínez
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carolina Donat-Vargas
- Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red | Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBER) Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
- Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Unit of Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Javier Santoma
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Filament Consultancy Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Cielo Garcia-Montero
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mariana Pinto da Costa
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rosa M Molina-Ruiz
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, San Carlos Clinical University Hospital, IdiSSC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel A Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Melchor Alvarez-Mon
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Immune System Diseases-Rheumatology and Internal Medicine Service, University Hospital Príncipe de Asturias, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red | Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
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Arillotta D, Floresta G, Guirguis A, Corkery JM, Catalani V, Martinotti G, Sensi SL, Schifano F. GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1503. [PMID: 38002464 PMCID: PMC10669484 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13111503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide and others) now promises effective, non-invasive treatment of obesity for individuals with and without diabetes. Social media platforms' users started promoting semaglutide/Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment, and the associated increase in demand has contributed to an ongoing worldwide shortage of the drug associated with levels of non-prescribed semaglutide intake. Furthermore, recent reports emphasized some GLP-1 RA-associated risks of triggering depression and suicidal thoughts. Consistent with the above, we aimed to assess the possible impact of GLP-1 RAs on mental health as being perceived and discussed in popular open platforms with the help of a mixed-methods approach. Reddit posts yielded 12,136 comments, YouTube videos 14,515, and TikTok videos 17,059, respectively. Out of these posts/entries, most represented matches related to sleep-related issues, including insomnia (n = 620 matches); anxiety (n = 353); depression (n = 204); and mental health issues in general (n = 165). After the initiation of GLP-1 RAs, losing weight was associated with either a marked improvement or, in some cases, a deterioration, in mood; increase/decrease in anxiety/insomnia; and better control of a range of addictive behaviors. The challenges of accessing these medications were a hot topic as well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study documenting if and how GLP-1 RAs are perceived as affecting mood, mental health, and behaviors. Establishing a clear cause-and-effect link between metabolic diseases, depression and medications is difficult because of their possible reciprocal relationship, shared underlying mechanisms and individual differences. Further research is needed to better understand the safety profile of these molecules and their putative impact on behavioral and non-behavioral addictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Arillotta
- School of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy;
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
| | - Giuseppe Floresta
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
- Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy
| | - Amira Guirguis
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
- Pharmacy, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
| | - John Martin Corkery
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
| | - Valeria Catalani
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
| | - Giovanni Martinotti
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
| | - Stefano L. Sensi
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
- Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technology (ITAB), University of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini 21, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Schifano
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK; (G.F.); (A.G.); (J.M.C.); (V.C.); (G.M.)
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Chiappini S, Vickers-Smith R, Harris D, Papanti Pelletier GD, Corkery JM, Guirguis A, Martinotti G, Sensi SL, Schifano F. Is There a Risk for Semaglutide Misuse? Focus on the Food and Drug Administration's FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) Pharmacovigilance Dataset. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 16:994. [PMID: 37513906 PMCID: PMC10384093 DOI: 10.3390/ph16070994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent media reports commented about a possible issue of the misuse of antidiabetics related to molecules promoted as a weight-loss treatment in non-obese people. We evaluated here available pharmacovigilance misuse/abuse signals related to semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue, in comparison to other GLP-1 receptor agonists (albiglutide, dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, lixisenatide, and tirzepatide) and the phentermine-topiramate combination. To acheieve that aim, we analyzed the Food and Drug Administration's FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) dataset, performing a descriptive analysis of adverse event reports (AERs) and calculating related pharmacovigilance measures, including the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and the proportional reporting ratio (PRR). During January 2018-December 2022, a total of 31,542 AERs involving the selected molecules were submitted to FAERS; most involved dulaglutide (n = 11,858; 37.6%) and semaglutide (n = 8249; 26.1%). In comparing semaglutide vs. the remaining molecules, the respective PRR values of the AERs 'drug abuse', 'drug withdrawal syndrome', 'prescription drug used without a prescription', and 'intentional product use issue' were 4.05, 4.05, 3.60, and 1.80 (all < 0.01). The same comparisons of semaglutide vs. the phentermine-topiramate combination were not associated with any significant differences. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study documenting the misuse/abuse potential of semaglutide in comparison with other GLP1 analogues and the phentermine-topiramate combination. The current findings will need to be confirmed by further empirical investigations to fully understand the safety profile of those molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Chiappini
- UniCamillus University, Via di S. Alessandro 8, 00131 Rome, Italy
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
| | - Rachel Vickers-Smith
- Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, 111 Washington Avenue, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
| | - Daniel Harris
- Institute for Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, 289 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
- Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, University of Kentucky, 800 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
| | - G Duccio Papanti Pelletier
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
- Cividale Community Mental Health Centre, ASUFC Mental Health Department, Via Carraria 29, 33043 Cividale del Friuli, Italy
| | - John Martin Corkery
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
| | - Amira Guirguis
- Department of Pharmacy, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
| | - Giovanni Martinotti
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging, and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Stefano L Sensi
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging, and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
- Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technology (ITAB), University of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini 21, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Schifano
- Psychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
- Department of Neurosciences, Imaging, and Clinical Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
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7
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Ma Q, Wen L, Tian Y, Ma L, Wen Z, Kun Y, Xu M, Liu X. Sulfosuccinimidyl oleate ameliorates the high-fat diet-induced obesity syndrome by reducing intestinal and hepatic absorption. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1193006. [PMID: 37305546 PMCID: PMC10254412 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1193006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: A high-fat Western diet is a risk factor for obesity and steatosis. Reducing intestinal absorption of a high-fat diet (HFD) is a feasible strategy to control obesity. Sulfosuccinimidyl oleate (SSO) inhibits intestinal fatty acid transport. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of SSO on HFD-induced glucose and lipid metabolism in mice and its possible underlying mechanisms. Methods: Male C57/BL were fed a HFD (60% calories) for 12 weeks and were administered an oral dose of SSO (50 mg/kg/day). The expression of lipid absorption genes (CD36, MTTP, and DGAT1) and the serum levels of triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), and free fatty acids (FFAs) were detected. Lipid distribution in the liver was detected by oil red and hematoxylin and eosin staining. In addition, serum levels of inflammatory factors, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured to detect side effects. Results: SSO was effective in the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome induced by HFD in mice. It attenuated the assembly of intestinal epithelial chylomicrons by inhibiting intestinal epithelial transport and absorption of fatty acids, thereby reducing the gene expression levels of MTTP and DGAT1, resulting in decreased plasma TG and FFA levels. At the same time, it inhibited the transport of fatty acids in the liver and improved the steatosis induced by a HFD. The results of oil red staining showed that SSO treatment can reduce lipid accumulation in the liver by 70%, with no drug-induced liver injury detected on the basis of interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, ALT, and AST levels. In addition, SSO treatment significantly improved insulin resistance, decreased fasting blood glucose levels, and improved glucose tolerance in HFD-fed mice. Conclusion: SSO is effective in the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome induced by a HFD in mice. SSO reduces intestinal fatty acid absorption by reducing the inhibition of intestinal CD36 expression, followed by decreased TG and FFA levels, which attenuates HFD-induced fatty liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiming Ma
- The Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Li Wen
- Department of Neonatology, Ganzhou Maternal and Child Health Centre, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Yanxia Tian
- Department of Blood Transfusion, The First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Liqin Ma
- The Second Department of Surgery, People’s Hospital of Shicheng County, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Zhangsheng Wen
- The CT Room of the Imaging Department, People’s Hospital of Shicheng County, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Yang Kun
- Department of Blood Transfusion, The First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Mengping Xu
- The Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
| | - Xiaoping Liu
- The Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
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8
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Abbasi-Perez A, Alvarez-Mon MA, Donat-Vargas C, Ortega MA, Monserrat J, Perez-Gomez A, Alvarez-Mon M. Using Twitter Data Analysis to Understand the Perceptions, Beliefs, and Attitudes about Pharmacotherapy Used in Rheumatology: An Observational Study. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11111526. [PMID: 37297665 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11111526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Twitter has become an important platform for disseminating information about rheumatology drugs by patients, health professionals, institutions, and other users. The aim of this study was to analyze tweets related to 16 drugs used in rheumatology, including their volume, content, and type of user (patients, patients' relatives, health professionals, health institutions, pharmaceutical industry, general press, scientific journals and patients' associations), and to detect inappropriate medical content. A total of 8829 original tweets were obtained, with a random sample of 25% of the total number of tweets for each drug (at least 100 tweets) analyzed. Methotrexate (MTX) accounted for a quarter of all tweets, and there were significant differences in the proportion of tweets issued according to the type of user. Patients and their relatives mainly tweeted about MTX, while professionals, institutions, and patient associations posted more about TNF inhibitors. In contrast, the pharmaceutical industry focused on IL-17 inhibitors. Medical content prevailed in all drugs except anti-CD20 and IL-1 inhibitors and the most discussed medical topic was efficacy, followed by posology and adverse effects. Inappropriate or fake content was found to be very low. In conclusion, the majority of the tweets were about MTX, which is a first-line treatment for several diseases. The distribution of medical content varied according to the type of user. In contrast to other studies, the amount of medically inappropriate content was very low.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Abbasi-Perez
- Service of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, University Hospital "Príncipe de Asturias", 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Institute Ramon y Cajal for Health Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
| | - Carolina Donat-Vargas
- Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
- IMDEA-Food Institute, Campus of International Excellence, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel A Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Institute Ramon y Cajal for Health Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
| | - Jorge Monserrat
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Institute Ramon y Cajal for Health Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Perez-Gomez
- Service of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, University Hospital "Príncipe de Asturias", 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Melchor Alvarez-Mon
- Service of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, University Hospital "Príncipe de Asturias", 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, 28805 Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Institute Ramon y Cajal for Health Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
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9
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Honcharov V, Li J, Sierra M, Rivadeneira NA, Olazo K, Nguyen TT, Mackey TK, Sarkar U. Public Figure Vaccination Rhetoric and Vaccine Hesitancy: Retrospective Twitter Analysis. JMIR INFODEMIOLOGY 2023; 3:e40575. [PMID: 37113377 PMCID: PMC10039410 DOI: 10.2196/40575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Background Social media has emerged as a critical mass communication tool, with both health information and misinformation now spread widely on the web. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, some public figures promulgated anti-vaccine attitudes, which spread widely on social media platforms. Although anti-vaccine sentiment has pervaded social media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear to what extent interest in public figures is generating anti-vaccine discourse. Objective We examined Twitter messages that included anti-vaccination hashtags and mentions of public figures to assess the connection between interest in these individuals and the possible spread of anti-vaccine messages. Methods We used a data set of COVID-19-related Twitter posts collected from the public streaming application programming interface from March to October 2020 and filtered it for anti-vaccination hashtags "antivaxxing," "antivaxx," "antivaxxers," "antivax," "anti-vaxxer," "discredit," "undermine," "confidence," and "immune." Next, we applied the Biterm Topic model (BTM) to output topic clusters associated with the entire corpus. Topic clusters were manually screened by examining the top 10 posts most highly correlated in each of the 20 clusters, from which we identified 5 clusters most relevant to public figures and vaccination attitudes. We extracted all messages from these clusters and conducted inductive content analysis to characterize the discourse. Results Our keyword search yielded 118,971 Twitter posts after duplicates were removed, and subsequently, we applied BTM to parse these data into 20 clusters. After removing retweets, we manually screened the top 10 tweets associated with each cluster (200 messages) to identify clusters associated with public figures. Extraction of these clusters yielded 768 posts for inductive analysis. Most messages were either pro-vaccination (n=329, 43%) or neutral about vaccination (n=425, 55%), with only 2% (14/768) including anti-vaccination messages. Three main themes emerged: (1) anti-vaccination accusation, in which the message accused the public figure of holding anti-vaccination beliefs; (2) using "anti-vax" as an epithet; and (3) stating or implying the negative public health impact of anti-vaccination discourse. Conclusions Most discussions surrounding public figures in common hashtags labelled as "anti-vax" did not reflect anti-vaccination beliefs. We observed that public figures with known anti-vaccination beliefs face scorn and ridicule on Twitter. Accusing public figures of anti-vaccination attitudes is a means of insulting and discrediting the public figure rather than discrediting vaccines. The majority of posts in our sample condemned public figures expressing anti-vax beliefs by undermining their influence, insulting them, or expressing concerns over public health ramifications. This points to a complex information ecosystem, where anti-vax sentiment may not reside in common anti-vax-related keywords or hashtags, necessitating further assessment of the influence that public figures have on this discourse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vlad Honcharov
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Jiawei Li
- S-3 Research LLC San Diego, CA United States
- Global Health Policy and Data Institute San Diego, CA United States
| | - Maribel Sierra
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Natalie A Rivadeneira
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Kristan Olazo
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
| | - Thu T Nguyen
- Department of Family and Community Medicine University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics University of Maryland School of Public Health College Park, MD United States
| | - Tim K Mackey
- S-3 Research LLC San Diego, CA United States
- Global Health Policy and Data Institute San Diego, CA United States
- Global Health Program Department of Anthropology University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA United States
| | - Urmimala Sarkar
- Division of General Internal Medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
- Center for Vulnerable Populations University of California San Francisco San Francisco, CA United States
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10
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de Anta L, Alvarez-Mon MA, Donat-Vargas C, Lara-Abelanda FJ, Pereira-Sanchez V, Gonzalez Rodriguez C, Mora F, Ortega MA, Quintero J, Alvarez-Mon M. Assessment of beliefs and attitudes about electroconvulsive therapy posted on Twitter: An observational study. Eur Psychiatry 2023; 66:e11. [PMID: 36620994 PMCID: PMC9970148 DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.2359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective and safe medical procedure that mainly indicated for depression, but is also indicated for patients with other conditions. However, ECT is among the most stigmatized and controversial treatments in medicine. Our objective was to examine social media contents on Twitter related to ECT to identify and evaluate public views on the matter. METHODS We collected Twitter posts in English and Spanish mentioning ECT between January 1, 2019 and October 31, 2020. Identified tweets were subject to a mixed method quantitative-qualitative content and sentiment analysis combining manual and semi-supervised natural language processing machine-learning analyses. Such analyses identified the distribution of tweets, their public interest (retweets and likes per tweet), and sentiment for the observed different categories of Twitter users and contents. RESULTS "Healthcare providers" users produced more tweets (25%) than "people with lived experience" and their "relatives" (including family members and close friends or acquaintances) (10% combined), and were the main publishers of "medical" content (mostly related to ECT's main indications). However, more than half of the total tweets had "joke or trivializing" contents, and such had a higher like and retweet ratio. Among those tweets manifesting personal opinions on ECT, around 75% of them had a negative sentiment. CONCLUSIONS Mixed method analysis of social media contents on Twitter offers a novel perspective to examine public opinion on ECT, and our results show attitudes more negative than those reflected in studies using surveys and other traditional methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- L de Anta
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain
| | - M A Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain.,Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
| | - C Donat-Vargas
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Unit of Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - F J Lara-Abelanda
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento Teoria de la Señal y Comunicaciones y Sistemas Telemáticos y Computación, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria de Telecomunicación, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain
| | - V Pereira-Sanchez
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - C Gonzalez Rodriguez
- Centro de Salud Mental Infanto Juvenil Cornellá, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - F Mora
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Legal and Psychiatry, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - M A Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain.,Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
| | - J Quintero
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Legal and Psychiatry, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - M Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain.,Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
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11
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de Anta L, Alvarez-Mon MA, Ortega MA, Salazar C, Donat-Vargas C, Santoma-Vilaclara J, Martin-Martinez M, Lahera G, Gutierrez-Rojas L, Rodriguez-Jimenez R, Quintero J, Alvarez-Mon M. Areas of Interest and Social Consideration of Antidepressants on English Tweets: A Natural Language Processing Classification Study. J Pers Med 2022; 12:jpm12020155. [PMID: 35207644 PMCID: PMC8879287 DOI: 10.3390/jpm12020155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Antidepressants are the foundation of the treatment of major depressive disorders. Despite the scientific evidence, there is still a sustained debate and concern about the efficacy of antidepressants, with widely differing opinions among the population about their positive and negative effects, which may condition people’s attitudes towards such treatments. Our aim is to investigate Twitter posts about antidepressants in order to have a better understanding of the social consideration of antidepressants. Methods: We gathered public tweets mentioning antidepressants written in English, published throughout a 22-month period, between 1 January 2019 and 31 October 2020. We analysed the content of each tweet, determining in the first place whether they included medical aspects or not. Those with medical content were classified into four categories: general aspects, such as quality of life or mood, sleep-related conditions, appetite/weight issues and aspects around somatic alterations. In non-medical tweets, we distinguished three categories: commercial nature (including all economic activity, drug promotion, education or outreach), help request/offer, and drug trivialization. In addition, users were arranged into three categories according to their nature: patients and relatives, caregivers, and interactions between Twitter users. Finally, we identified the most mentioned antidepressants, including the number of retweets and likes, which allowed us to measure the impact among Twitter users. Results: The activity in Twitter concerning antidepressants is mainly focused on the effects these drugs may have on certain health-related areas, specifically sleep (20.87%) and appetite/weight (8.95%). Patients and relatives are the type of user that most frequently posts tweets with medical content (65.2%, specifically 80% when referencing sleep and 78.6% in the case of appetite/weight), whereas they are responsible for only 2.9% of tweets with non-medical content. Among tweets classified as non-medical in this study, the most common subject was drug trivialization (66.86%). Caregivers barely have any presence in conversations in Twitter about antidepressants (3.5%). However, their tweets rose more interest among other users, with a ratio 11.93 times higher than those posted by patients and their friends and family. Mirtazapine is the most mentioned antidepressant in Twitter (45.43%), with a significant difference with the rest, agomelatine (11.11%). Conclusions: This study shows that Twitter users that take antidepressants, or their friends and family, use social media to share medical information about antidepressants. However, other users that do not talk about antidepressants from a personal or close experience, frequently do so in a stigmatizing manner, by trivializing them. Our study also brings to light the scarce presence of caregivers in Twitter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura de Anta
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, 28031 Madrid, Spain; (L.d.A.); (M.M.-M.); (J.Q.)
| | - Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, 28031 Madrid, Spain; (L.d.A.); (M.M.-M.); (J.Q.)
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; (G.L.); (M.A.-M.)
- Correspondence: (M.A.A.-M.); (M.A.O.)
| | - Miguel A. Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; (G.L.); (M.A.-M.)
- Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence: (M.A.A.-M.); (M.A.O.)
| | - Cristina Salazar
- Departamento Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones y Sistemas Telemáticos y Computación, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Telecomunicación, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28942 Fuenlabrada, Spain;
| | - Carolina Donat-Vargas
- Unit of Cardiovascular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden;
| | | | - Maria Martin-Martinez
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, 28031 Madrid, Spain; (L.d.A.); (M.M.-M.); (J.Q.)
| | - Guillermo Lahera
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; (G.L.); (M.A.-M.)
- Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
- CIBERSAM (Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Mental Health), 22807 Madrid, Spain;
- Psychiatry Service, Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | | | - Roberto Rodriguez-Jimenez
- CIBERSAM (Biomedical Research Networking Centre in Mental Health), 22807 Madrid, Spain;
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital 12 de Octubre (imas 12), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Javier Quintero
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, 28031 Madrid, Spain; (L.d.A.); (M.M.-M.); (J.Q.)
| | - Melchor Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; (G.L.); (M.A.-M.)
- Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS), 28034 Madrid, Spain
- Immune System Diseases-Rheumatology and Oncology Service, University Hospital Príncipe de Asturias, CIBEREHD, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
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12
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Alvarez-Mon MA, Fernandez-Lazaro CI, Ortega MA, Vidal C, Molina-Ruiz RM, Alvarez-Mon M, Martínez-González MA. Analyzing Psychotherapy on Twitter: An 11-Year Analysis of Tweets From Major U.S. Media Outlets. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:871113. [PMID: 35664489 PMCID: PMC9159799 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.871113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Internet has become the main source of information on health issues, and information now determines the therapeutic preferences of patients. For this reason, it is relevant to analyze online information discussing psychotherapy. OBJECTIVE To investigate tweets posted by 25 major US media outlets between 2009 and 2019 concerning psychotherapy. METHODS We investigated tweets posted by 25 major US media outlets about psychotherapy between January 2009 and December 2019 as well as the likes generated. In addition, we measured the sentiment analysis of these tweets. RESULTS Most of the tweets analyzed focused on Mindfulness (5,498), while a low number were related to Psychoanalysis (376) and even less to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (61). Surprisingly, Computer-supported therapy, Psychodynamic therapy, Systemic therapy, Acceptance and commitment therapy, and Dialectical behavior therapy did not generate any tweet. In terms of content, efficacy was the main focus of the posted tweets, receiving Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness a positive appraisal. CONCLUSIONS US media outlets focused their interest on Mindfulness which may have contributed to the growing popularity in the past years of this therapeutic modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain.,Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain.,Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Madrid, Spain
| | - Cesar Ignacio Fernandez-Lazaro
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.,Navarra's Health Research Institute (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Miguel A Ortega
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain.,Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Vidal
- Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology. University of Navarra Clinic, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Rosa M Molina-Ruiz
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Melchor Alvarez-Mon
- Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain.,Ramón y Cajal Institute of Sanitary Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel A Martínez-González
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.,Navarra's Health Research Institute (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
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