Mining social media data to investigate patient perceptions regarding DMARD pharmacotherapy for rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

ObjectivesWe hypothesise that patients have a positive sentiment regarding biological/targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) and a negative sentiment towards conventional synthetic agents (csDMARDs). We analysed discussions on social media platforms regarding DMARDs to understand the collective sentiment expressed towards these medications.MethodsTreato analytics were used to download all available posts on social media about DMARDs in the context of rheumatoid arthritis. Strict filters ensured that user generated content was downloaded. The sentiment (positive or negative) expressed in these posts was analysed for each DMARD using sentiment analysis. We also analysed the reason(s) for this sentiment for each DMARD, looking specifically at efficacy and side effects.ResultsComputer algorithms analysed millions of social media posts and included 54 742 posts about DMARDs. We found that both classes had an overall positive sentiment. The ratio of positive to negative posts was higher for b/tsDMARDs (1.210) than for csDMARDs (1.048). Efficacy was the most commonly mentioned reason in posts with a positive sentiment and lack of efficacy was the most commonly mentioned reason for a negative sentiment. These were followed by the presence/absence of side effects in negative or positive posts, respectively.ConclusionsPublic opinion on social media is generally positive about DMARDs. Lack of efficacy followed by side effects were the most common themes in posts with a negative sentiment. There are clear reasons why a DMARD generates a positive or negative sentiment, as the sentiment analysis technology becomes more refined, targeted studies could be done to analyse these reasons and allow clinicians to tailor DMARDs to match patient needs.

#Covid4Rheum: an analytical twitter study in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Applying digital data mining and crowdsourcing to social media offers new opportunities for scientific research [9,10]. Via the use of data and text mining-a technology which can be applied to extract potentially valuable knowledge from large data sets [11]-all Tweets related to #Covid4Rheum were identified and analysed.…”

Perceptions towards biologic and biosimilar therapy of patients with rheumatic and gastroenterological conditions

“…However, the perils of inconsistent, unreliable or misinterpreted information have also been particularly realised in the current pandemic situation [27]. Though our results suggest that social media is generally negative in its perspective on biologics, previous social media mining suggests that public sentiment towards b/tsDMARDs is still more positive than in regard to conventional synthetic DMARDs [28].…”

Social Media – Chancen und Risiken für die Rheumatologie

“…So spiegelt u. a. das Nutzer*innenverhalten gewisse Trends und Einstellungen der Patient*innen z. B. bezüglich der Einstellung zu Therapieoptionen [ 29 ] oder Ernährungsgewohnheiten wider [ 30 ]. Während durch die breite Zugänglichkeit zu Social Media ohne hohen ökonomischen Aufwand oder räumliche Beschränkung einerseits mehr Menschen erreicht werden können, besteht hier andererseits ein Selektionsbias für eine technologieaffine, oft eher jüngere Gruppe.…”