Characterizing Pathways of Non-oral Prescription Stimulant Non-medical Use Among Adults Recruited From Reddit

Vosburg, Suzanne K.; Robbins, Rebekkah S.; Antshel, Kevin M.; Faraone, Stephen V.; Green, Jody L.

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.631792

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…These and similar sites permit exploration of available descriptive data on kratom including, in this case, the possibility to tap into self-report about kratom during COVID-19 in the form of user-generated posts 32 – 34 . Reddit data, in particular, can be highly contextualized and have been used to gain insight into a wide range of topics 35 – 39 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[32][33][34] Reddit data, in particular, can be highly contextualized and have been used to gain insight into a wide range of topics. [35][36][37][38][39] An R package was used to successfully collect, aggregate, and filter (e.g., remove automated, non-human "bot" posts) data from Reddit, Bluelight, and Twitter (see Appendix B for additional description of social media post data collection and handling methods). Upon the first pass, 1,503 (N Bluelight ¼ 48, N Reddit ¼ 193, N Twitter ¼ 1,259) posts were obtained, however, a large portion of Twitter posts appeared to be automated "bot" posts from advertisers or other interest groups; 969 (77.1%) met criteria for being considered a "bot."…”

Section: Social Media Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Essential is Kratom Availability and use during COVID-19? Use Pattern Analysis Based on Survey and Social Media Data

et al. 2022

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Background: Kratom, a tree native to Southeast Asia, is increasingly used in Western countries for self-treatment of pain, psychiatric disorders, and mitigation of withdrawal symptoms from drugs of abuse. Because kratom is solely supplied from its native locations, supply shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact the availability of preparations and hence force consumers to change their patterns of use. The aim of this study was to understand if and how COVID-19 was influencing kratom purchasing and use. Methods: Additional questions specific to kratom availability and changes in use during COVID-19 were added to an international online survey with responses collected between January and July 2020. During the same period, kratom-related social media posts to Twitter, Reddit, and Bluelight were analyzed for themes similar to the survey questions. Results: The survey results indicated no changes in kratom use patterns although the sample size was relatively small (n = 70) with younger consumers reporting a potential issue in obtaining their desired products from their usual sources. The survey respondents identified primarily as non-Hispanic whites (87.1%). Social media themes revolved primarily around quitting kratom during COVID-19, misinformation about the effects of kratom on COVID-19, and other non-COVID-related discussions. While some consumers may increase their kratom dose because of additional stress, a majority of discussions centered around reducing or rationing kratom due to COVID-19 or a perceived dependence. Access to quality kratom products was also a major discussion topic on social media. Conclusions: Kratom use patterns did not change due to COVID-19 but consumers were concerned about potential product shortages and resulting quality issues. Clinicians and public health officials need to be informed and educated about kratom use as a potential mitigation strategy for substance use disorders and for self-treatment of pain.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Media Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Essential is Kratom Availability and use during COVID-19? Use Pattern Analysis Based on Survey and Social Media Data

et al. 2022

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“…Individuals in the present study who reported prescription stimulant IN use also reported a greater degree of other substance use (marijuana, tobacco cigarettes, sedative/hypnotic/anti-anxiety medications, opioids, cocaine, and methamphetamines) similar to other samples reporting IN use (Faraone et al, 2019; McCabe & Teter, 2007; Wilens et al, 2020). The onset of additional substance use was not investigated in the present study, however, non-oral prescription stimulant use has been identified as a precursor to illicit substance use in other samples (Sweeney et al, 2013; Vosburg et al, 2020). This finding is also in keeping a reported trajectory of substance use that begins during college and continues into the young adult years (Arria, Caldeira, Allen, et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Another aspect associated with non-oral use is medication tampering-the process by which a substance, such as a tablet or capsule, is reduced to a form, such as a powder, that can be taken non-orally by an alternate route, such as intranasal administration. Although identified with prescription opioids (Katz et al, 2011), medication tampering also takes place with prescription stimulants (Vosburg et al, 2020). To address the need for information, the purpose of the present study was to characterize non-oral use, and specifically, IN use in an adult sample.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intranasal Use of Prescription Stimulants Among Adults Aged 18 to 30: Results From A Crowdsourcing Platform

et al. 2022

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Objective: Few studies of prescription stimulant non-oral, non-medical use (NMU) (defined by use not as prescribed) have been conducted in adults beyond the college population. The purpose of this study was to characterize prescription stimulant non-oral use, specifically intranasal (IN) use (snorting) in young adults. Method: Amazon’s MTurk platform was used to recruit participants for an online survey. Data were collected from March to April 2020. Results: Thirty-two percent ( n = 157) of survey respondents ( N = 975), aged 18 to 30, reported IN prescription stimulant use (average of 32.1 episodes of lifetime IN use). Adderall was the most-reported prescription stimulant used intranasally (89.2%). Most IN users (82%; n = 68) reported spending no more than 5 minutes tampering with prescription stimulants. Intranasal users said they would take the medication orally if unable to tamper or manipulate medication for IN use. Conclusion: These data help quantify a complex public health issue of ongoing IN use of prescription stimulants and suggest a potential role for manipulation-deterrent medications.

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“…Reddit is a similar pseudonymous social media platform used by the public to discuss personal experiences that may be stigmatizing [25][26][27], including young adults who may disclose personal information with less fear of offline harm or consequences [28]. Reddit data have been used to investigate attitudes and behaviors of individuals who use illicit substances [29][30][31], and similar research has been conducted among those who vape. One analysis of Reddit threads indicated that primary motivations for vaping among individuals with mental illness include self-medication, freedom and control, vaping as a hobby, social connectedness, as well as vaping to quit smoking [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topics and Sentiment Surrounding Vaping on Twitter and Reddit During the 2019 e-Cigarette and Vaping Use–Associated Lung Injury Outbreak: Comparative Study

Wu¹,

Kasson²,

Singh³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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Background Vaping or e-cigarette use has become dramatically more popular in the United States in recent years. e-Cigarette and vaping use–associated lung injury (EVALI) cases caused an increase in hospitalizations and deaths in 2019, and many instances were later linked to unregulated products. Previous literature has leveraged social media data for surveillance of health topics. Individuals are willing to share mental health experiences and other personal stories on social media platforms where they feel a sense of community, reduced stigma, and empowerment. Objective This study aimed to compare vaping-related content on 2 popular social media platforms (ie, Twitter and Reddit) to explore the context surrounding vaping during the 2019 EVALI outbreak and to support the feasibility of using data from both social platforms to develop in-depth and intelligent vaping detection models on social media. Methods Data were extracted from both Twitter (316,620 tweets) and Reddit (17,320 posts) from July 2019 to September 2019 at the peak of the EVALI crisis. High-throughput computational analyses (sentiment analysis and topic analysis) were conducted. In addition, in-depth manual content analyses were performed and compared with computational analyses of content on both platforms (577 tweets and 613 posts). Results Vaping-related posts and unique users on Twitter and Reddit increased from July 2019 to September 2019, with the average post per user increasing from 1.68 to 1.81 on Twitter and 1.19 to 1.21 on Reddit. Computational analyses found the number of positive sentiment posts to be higher on Reddit (P<.001, 95% CI 0.4305-0.4475) and the number of negative posts to be higher on Twitter (P<.001, 95% CI –0.4289 to −0.4111). These results were consistent with the clinical content analyses results indicating that negative sentiment posts were higher on Twitter (273/577, 47.3%) than Reddit (184/613, 30%). Furthermore, topics prevalent on both platforms by keywords and based on manual post reviews included mentions of youth, marketing or regulation, marijuana, and interest in quitting. Conclusions Post content and trending topics overlapped on both Twitter and Reddit during the EVALI period in 2019. However, crucial differences in user type and content keywords were also found, including more frequent mentions of health-related keywords on Twitter and more negative health outcomes from vaping mentioned on both Reddit and Twitter. Use of both computational and clinical content analyses is critical to not only identify signals of public health trends among vaping-related social media content but also to provide context for vaping risks and behaviors. By leveraging the strengths of both Twitter and Reddit as publicly available data sources, this research may provide technical and clinical insights to inform automatic detection of social media users who are vaping and may benefit from digital intervention and proactive outreach strategies on these platforms.

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Characterizing Pathways of Non-oral Prescription Stimulant Non-medical Use Among Adults Recruited From Reddit

Cited by 12 publications

References 87 publications

How Essential is Kratom Availability and use during COVID-19? Use Pattern Analysis Based on Survey and Social Media Data

How Essential is Kratom Availability and use during COVID-19? Use Pattern Analysis Based on Survey and Social Media Data

Intranasal Use of Prescription Stimulants Among Adults Aged 18 to 30: Results From A Crowdsourcing Platform

Topics and Sentiment Surrounding Vaping on Twitter and Reddit During the 2019 e-Cigarette and Vaping Use–Associated Lung Injury Outbreak: Comparative Study

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