What Are Patients Asking Online About Strabismus? An Analysis of the Strabismus Subreddit

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Reddit is particularly popular due to its anonymity and discussion forum-type format. As an increasing number of patients seek medical advice on social media online, understanding patients’ activity regarding strabismus on Reddit will help assess their concerns and guide patient education. Methods A cross-sectional study of Reddit posts (www.reddit.com/r/strabismus/) was conducted from July 2021 to July 2022. Posts were sorted by date, type, content, emotional tone, and users’ sex and age (when available). Results A total of 709 posts were analyzed. Of the 164 (23%) posts in which users identified sex, 85 (52%) were female. The average age of patients to whom the post regarded was 23.7 ± 11.4 years (range 1–60 years). The most common content was surgical treatment (453, 63.9%), non-surgical treatment (263, 37%), seeking a diagnosis of their condition (190, 26.8%), and sharing personal journeys (136, 19.2%). Of the 289 (41%) posts that conveyed a clear emotional tone, the most common were anxiety (48, 18.3%), happiness (31, 11.8%), insecurity (24, 9.2%), frustration (22, 8.4%), and excitement (22, 8.4%). “Anxiety” posts had a significantly greater association with pre-surgery concerns whereas “happy” posts had a significantly greater association with post-operative updates (p = .003). Conclusions Patients with strabismus who post on Reddit tend to be young adults interested in surgical treatment options. Although the pre-operative tone was anxiety, post-operative posts tended to be happy.