“#LongCOVID affects children too”: A Twitter analysis of healthcare workers’ sentiment and discourse about Long COVID in children and young people in the UK

Abstract

Aims: With a social media analysis of the discourse surrounding the prevalence of Long COVID in children and young people (CYP), this study aims to explore healthcare workers' perceptions concerning Long COVID in CYP in the UK between January 2021 and January 2022. This will allow to contribute to the emerging knowledge on Long COVID and identify critical areas and future directions for researchers and policymakers. Design: A mixed methods approach with a discourse, keywords, sentiment, and image analysis, using PulsarTM and Infranodus. Setting: A discussion of the experience of Long COVID in CYP in the UK shared on Twitter between 1 January 2021 and 31 January 2022. Participants: A sample of health workers with Twitter accounts whose bio has them identifying themselves as HCWs. Results: We obtained 2588 tweets. HCW were responsive to announcements issued by authorities regarding the management of COVID-19 in the UK. The most frequent feelings were negative. The main themes were uncertainty about the future, policies and regulations, managing and addressing COVID-19 and Long COVID in CYP, vaccination, using Twitter to share scientific literature and management strategies, and clinical and personal experiences. Conclusions: The perceptions described on Twitter by HCW concerning the presence of Long COVID in CYP appear to be a relevant and timely issue and responsive to the declarations and guidelines issued by health authorities over time. We recommend further support and training strategies for health workers and school staff regarding the manifestations and treatment of Long COVID in CYP.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Long COVID in Children and Young People: Insights from a Policy Review and Social Media Analysis in the UK

“…This need to focus on inclusiveness, accountability as well as the key topics of concern factoring into the responsiveness of policy with regards to CYP was also mentioned in a recent paper focusing on topics of concern about the experiences of CYP as described by healthcare workers on social media. The paper also recommended the need for further support and training strategies for health workers and school staff regarding the manifestations and treatment of Long COVID in CYP (Martin et al, 2022).…”

“…Using framework analysis (Gale et al, 2013), the rst reviewer summarised the policies. We then triangulated this data with a review of the policy data, and then two researchers analysed secondary data harvested from a previous study of Long COVID in CYP in the UK between January 2021 and January 2022 (Martin et al, 2022). New data from Brandwatch™ was also used to conduct a social media search of online discourse, keywords, topic and sentiment analysis, of posts made within the UK that commented on UK policy regarding CYP and Long COVID by both members of the general public and healthcare workers.…”

Unlocking the Mysteries of Long COVID in Children and Young People: Insights from a Policy Review and Social Media Analysis in the UK

“…Using framework analysis (Gale et al, 2013), the first reviewer summarised the policies. We then triangulated this data with a review of the policy data, and then two researchers analysed secondary data harvested from a previous study of Long COVID in CYP in the UK between January 2021 and January 2022 (Martin et al, 2022). New data from Brandwatch™ was also used to conduct a social media search of online discourse, keywords, topic and sentiment analysis, of posts made within the UK that commented on UK policy regarding CYP and Long COVID by both members of the general public and healthcare workers.…”