Characterization of Reddit Posts About Xylazine-Associated Wounds: Qualitative Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Xylazine has been associated with skin wounds. The rising prevalence of xylazine and its debated role in wound causation have sparked concerns among public health professionals, medical experts, and people who use drugs.

Objective

This study used a qualitative evaluation of Reddit posts to understand the experiences of people who use drugs concerning xylazine-associated wounds.

Methods

This study explored xylazine discussions on Reddit. Data were collected from 930+ drug-related subreddits via the PRAW Python application programming interface, and natural language processing methods were employed to identify posts that mentioned xylazine and wound-related keywords. Retrieved posts were manually coded for thematic analysis, and a term frequency-inverse docum

SUBMITTER: Spadaro A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12434632 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature