Understanding Health-Related Discussions on Reddit: Development of a Topic Assignment Method and Exploratory Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social media has become a widely used way for people to share opinions about health care 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

This study aimed to develop a method to investigate Reddit posts discussing health-related conditions. Our goal was to characterize these topics and identify trends in these social media-based medical discussions.

Methods

Using an initial query, we collected 1 year of Reddit posts containing the phrases "get tested" and "get checked." These posts were manually reviewed, and subreddits containing irrelevant posts were excluded from analysis. This selection of pos

SUBMITTER: Chan GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11822319 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature