Tweeting back: predicting new cases of back pain with mass social media data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Back pain is a global health problem. Recent research has shown that risk factors that are proximal to the onset of back pain might be important targets for preventive interventions. Rapid communication through social media might be useful for delivering timely interventions that target proximal risk factors. Identifying individuals who are likely to discuss back pain on Twitter could provide useful information to guide online interventions.

Methods

We used a case-crossover study design for a sample of 742 028 tweets about back pain to quantify the risks associated with a new tweet about back pain.

Results

The odds of tweeting about back pain just after tweeting about selected physical, psychological, and general health factors were 1.83 (95% confidence int

SUBMITTER: Lee H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7839924 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature