Understanding patient perspectives in spine care: A social media analysis of 2,513 posts reveals distinct patterns in treatment perceptions

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q3 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience Pub Date : 2025-09-20 DOI:10.1016/j.jocn.2025.111624

Daniel Schneider , Jacob Gluski , Ethan D.L. Brown , Akash Mishra , Harshal A. Shah , Barnabas Obeng-Gyasi , Daniel M. Sciubba , Sheng-Fu Larry Lo

{"title":"Understanding patient perspectives in spine care: A social media analysis of 2,513 posts reveals distinct patterns in treatment perceptions","authors":"Daniel Schneider , Jacob Gluski , Ethan D.L. Brown , Akash Mishra , Harshal A. Shah , Barnabas Obeng-Gyasi , Daniel M. Sciubba , Sheng-Fu Larry Lo","doi":"10.1016/j.jocn.2025.111624","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>As patients increasingly turn to social media for health information, understanding online patterns of social discourse around medical conditions has become increasingly crucial. This study aimed to identify patient perceptions of common symptoms and interventions in spine care using data from large online communities.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Posts were extracted using the Python Reddit API Wrapper (PRAW) based on 39 predefined keywords covering symptoms (n = 8), interventions (n = 25), and risk factors (n = 6). Natural language processing techniques, including sentiment analysis, were employed to assess relationships between symptoms, interventions, and patient sentiment. Clustering and temporal analyses were used to identify trends in patient discussions.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Analysis of 2,513 posts revealed pain as the predominant symptom (74.1 %, n = 1,862), followed by numbness (11.1 %, n = 280) and sciatica (9.7 %, n = 245). Physical therapy was the most discussed intervention (10.8 %, n = 272), followed by medication (5.6 %, n = 140) and microdiscectomy (3.9 %, n = 99). Significant associations emerged between numbness and surgical interventions (microdiscectomy: X<sup>2</sup> = 14.37, p = 0.014; spinal fusion: X<sup>2</sup> = 11.94, p = 0.026). Sentiment analysis revealed modestly positive scores for most interventions, with numbness-microdiscectomy showing the highest positive sentiment (0.066 [0.008, 0.125]). The five identified clusters showed distinct characteristics: Sciatica-Medication (mean sentiment = 0.024, SD = 0.134), Pain-Medication (0.048, SD = 0.119), Numbness-Physical Therapy (0.007, SD = 0.134), Pain-Physical Therapy (0.057, SD = 0.138), and Numbness-Microdiscectomy (0.038, SD = 0.113). Age dominated risk factor discussions (97.6 % of mentions), suggesting limited emphasis on modifiable risk factors. Temporal analysis showed an increase in discussion volume after 2022, particularly around pain-related topics.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Our findings highlight how social media analysis can reveal distinct patterns in patient experiences with regards to spine care. Variable sentiment towards interventions and the notable lack of discussion around modifiable risk factors suggest opportunities to enhance preoperative counseling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15487,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"142 ","pages":"Article 111624"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Clinical Neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967586825005971","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

As patients increasingly turn to social media for health information, understanding online patterns of social discourse around medical conditions has become increasingly crucial. This study aimed to identify patient perceptions of common symptoms and interventions in spine care using data from large online communities.

Methods

Posts were extracted using the Python Reddit API Wrapper (PRAW) based on 39 predefined keywords covering symptoms (n = 8), interventions (n = 25), and risk factors (n = 6). Natural language processing techniques, including sentiment analysis, were employed to assess relationships between symptoms, interventions, and patient sentiment. Clustering and temporal analyses were used to identify trends in patient discussions.

Results

Analysis of 2,513 posts revealed pain as the predominant symptom (74.1 %, n = 1,862), followed by numbness (11.1 %, n = 280) and sciatica (9.7 %, n = 245). Physical therapy was the most discussed intervention (10.8 %, n = 272), followed by medication (5.6 %, n = 140) and microdiscectomy (3.9 %, n = 99). Significant associations emerged between numbness and surgical interventions (microdiscectomy: X² = 14.37, p = 0.014; spinal fusion: X² = 11.94, p = 0.026). Sentiment analysis revealed modestly positive scores for most interventions, with numbness-microdiscectomy showing the highest positive sentiment (0.066 [0.008, 0.125]). The five identified clusters showed distinct characteristics: Sciatica-Medication (mean sentiment = 0.024, SD = 0.134), Pain-Medication (0.048, SD = 0.119), Numbness-Physical Therapy (0.007, SD = 0.134), Pain-Physical Therapy (0.057, SD = 0.138), and Numbness-Microdiscectomy (0.038, SD = 0.113). Age dominated risk factor discussions (97.6 % of mentions), suggesting limited emphasis on modifiable risk factors. Temporal analysis showed an increase in discussion volume after 2022, particularly around pain-related topics.

Conclusions

Our findings highlight how social media analysis can reveal distinct patterns in patient experiences with regards to spine care. Variable sentiment towards interventions and the notable lack of discussion around modifiable risk factors suggest opportunities to enhance preoperative counseling.

查看原文本刊更多论文

了解脊柱护理患者的观点：对2,513个帖子的社交媒体分析揭示了治疗观念的不同模式

随着患者越来越多地转向社交媒体获取健康信息，了解围绕医疗状况的社会话语的在线模式变得越来越重要。本研究旨在利用大型在线社区的数据，确定患者对脊柱护理中常见症状和干预措施的看法。方法使用Python Reddit API Wrapper （PRAW）基于39个预定义关键词提取要点，包括症状（n = 8）、干预措施（n = 25）和危险因素（n = 6）。包括情绪分析在内的自然语言处理技术被用于评估症状、干预措施和患者情绪之间的关系。聚类和时间分析用于确定患者讨论的趋势。结果2513篇帖子的主要症状为疼痛（74.1%,n = 1,862），其次为麻木（11.1%,n = 280）和坐骨神经痛（9.7%,n = 245）。物理治疗是讨论最多的干预措施（10.8%,n = 272），其次是药物治疗（5.6%,n = 140）和显微椎间盘切除术（3.9%,n = 99）。麻木感与手术干预之间存在显著相关性（微椎间盘切除术：X2 = 14.37, p = 0.014；脊柱融合术：X2 = 11.94, p = 0.026）。情绪分析显示，大多数干预措施的得分为适度正，麻木微椎间盘切除术显示出最高的积极情绪（0.066[0.008,0.125]）。5组患者表现出明显的特征：坐骨神经痛-药物治疗（平均情绪= 0.024,SD = 0.134）、疼痛-药物治疗（0.048,SD = 0.119）、麻木-物理治疗（0.007,SD = 0.134）、疼痛-物理治疗（0.057,SD = 0.138）和麻木-微椎间盘切除术（0.038,SD = 0.113）。年龄主导了危险因素的讨论（97.6%的提及），表明对可改变的危险因素的重视有限。时间分析显示，2022年之后的讨论量有所增加，尤其是与疼痛相关的话题。结论：我们的研究结果强调了社交媒体分析如何揭示脊柱护理方面患者体验的独特模式。对干预措施的不同看法和明显缺乏围绕可改变的危险因素的讨论表明有机会加强术前咨询。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 医学-临床神经学

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

402

审稿时长

40 days

期刊介绍： This International journal, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, publishes articles on clinical neurosurgery and neurology and the related neurosciences such as neuro-pathology, neuro-radiology, neuro-ophthalmology and neuro-physiology. The journal has a broad International perspective, and emphasises the advances occurring in Asia, the Pacific Rim region, Europe and North America. The Journal acts as a focus for publication of major clinical and laboratory research, as well as publishing solicited manuscripts on specific subjects from experts, case reports and other information of interest to clinicians working in the clinical neurosciences.