Perception of pediatrics through social big data

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to discover the perception of pediatrics as a topic. This study focuses on the perceptions of parents as potential consumers of pediatrics. Methods: We analyzed online community posts about pediatrics. 33,562 documents were analyzed in which ‘Pediatrics’ was mentioned among the posts for the four years from June 2020 to May 2023 were analyzed. The collected data were preprocessed and analyzed using text-mining techniques. Based on the TF value, the top 50 words were identified, a total of 18 topics were derived, and topic names were assigned. Results: Discussions on medical institution treatment subjects, use and operation, children, recommendations, and diseases were prominent. There was a difference in topics according to the channel type. Online blogs were dominated by topics about healthcare referrals, while online cafes were dominated by topics about COVID-19, medical treatment, and medical expertise. Conclusions: Based on the analysis results of this study, implications for the role of pediatricians and considerations for the treatment of children and families are suggested.