Cancer patients on Twitter: a novel patient community on social media

BMC Research Notes

Akira Fukao¹  Katsumi Otani¹  Li Shao¹  Atsushi Hozawa¹  Hiroto Narimatsu¹  Yuya Sugawara² 

[1] Department of Public Health, Yamagata University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan;Department of Medical Informatics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan

关键词: Web 2.0;    Twitter messaging;    Social media;    Leukemia;    Internet;    Breast neoplasms;    Breast cancer;   

Others  :  1145200
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-5-699

 received in 2012-10-23, accepted in 2012-12-21,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Patients increasingly turn to the Internet for information on medical conditions, including clinical news and treatment options. In recent years, an online patient community has arisen alongside the rapidly expanding world of social media, or “Web 2.0.” Twitter provides real-time dissemination of news, information, personal accounts and other details via a highly interactive form of social media, and has become an important online tool for patients. This medium is now considered to play an important role in the modern social community of online, “wired” cancer patients.

Results

Fifty-one highly influential “power accounts” belonging to cancer patients were extracted from a dataset of 731 Twitter accounts with cancer terminology in their profiles. In accordance with previously established methodology, “power accounts” were defined as those Twitter accounts with 500 or more followers. We extracted data on the cancer patient (female) with the most followers to study the specific relationships that existed between the user and her followers, and found that the majority of the examined tweets focused on greetings, treatment discussions, and other instances of psychological support. These findings went against our hypothesis that cancer patients’ tweets would be centered on the dissemination of medical information and similar “newsy” details.

Conclusions

At present, there exists a rapidly evolving network of cancer patients engaged in information exchange via Twitter. This network is valuable in the sharing of psychological support among the cancer community.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Sugawara et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Narimatsu H, Matsumura T, Morita T, Kishi Y, Yuji K, Kami M, Komatsu T, Tanaka Y, Sawa T, Nakata Y: Detailed analysis of visitors to cancer-related web sites. J Clin Oncol 2008, 26:4219-4223.
• [2]Morita T, Narimatsu H, Matsumura T, Kodama Y, Hori A, Kishi Y, Kusumi E, Hamaki T, Kobayashi K, Yuji K, Tanaka Y, Nakata Y, Kami M: A study of cancer information for cancer patients on the internet. Int J Clin Oncol 2007, 12:440-447.
• [3]Chen X, Siu LL: Impact of the media and the internet on oncology: survey of cancer patients and oncologists in Canada. J Clin Oncol 2001, 19:4291-4297.
• [4]Signorini A, Segre AM, Polgreen PM: The use of Twitter to track levels of disease activity and public concern in the U.S. during the influenza A H1N1 pandemic. PLoS One 2011, 6:e19467.
• [5]Machi user local (in Japanese). [http://machi.userlocal.jp/ webcite]
• [6]Mandavilli A: Peer review: trial by Twitter. Nature 2011, 469:286-287.
• [7]Lulic I, Kovic I: Analysis of emergency physicians' Twitter accounts. Emerg Med J 2012. [epub ahead of print]
• [8]Heaivilin N, Gerbert B, Page JE, Gibbs JL: Public health surveillance of dental pain via Twitter. J Dent Res 2011, 90:1047-1051.
• [9]Kubben PL: Twitter for neurosurgeons. Surg Neurol Int 2011, 2:28.
• [10]Opelka FG: Social networking in health care: surgeons and their patients. Surgery 2011, 150:10-12.
• [11]Rajani R, Berman DS, Rozanski A: Social networks—are they good for your health? The era of Facebook and Twitter. Q J Med 2011, 104:819-820.
• [12]Chretien KC, Azar J, Kind T: Physicians on Twitter. JAMA 2011, 305:566-568.
• [13]De la Torre-Diez I, Diaz-Pernas FJ, Anton-Rodriguez M: A content analysis of chronic diseases social groups on Facebook and Twitter. Telemed J E Health 2012, 18:404-408.
• [14]Desai T, Shariff A, Shariff A, Kats M, Fang X, Christiano C, Ferris M: Tweeting the meeting: an in-depth analysis of Twitter activity at Kidney Week 2011. PLoS One 2012, 7:e40253.
• [15]Fortinsky KJ, Fournier MR, Benchimol EI: Internet and electronic resources for inflammatory bowel disease: a primer for providers and patients. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2012, 18:1156-1163.
• [16]Thackeray R, Neiger BL, Smith AK, Van Wagenen SB: Adoption and use of social media among public health departments. BMC Public Health 2012, 12:242. BioMed Central Full Text
• [17]Schneider A, Jackson R, Baum N: Social media networking: Facebook and Twitter. J Med Pract Manage 2010, 26:156-157.
• [18]Vance K, Howe W, Dellavalle RP: Social internet sites as a source of public health information. Dermatol Clin 2009, 27:133-136. vi
• [19]Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research: Cancer statistics in Japan 2010. [http://ganjoho.jp/public/statistics/backnumber/2010_en.html webcite]
• [20]16 (one-six) Profile Search β Version for twitter (in Japanese). [http://www.16ps.jp/ webcite]
• [21][http://mentionmapp.com/] webciteMentionmapp.
• [22][http://[http://whotwi.com/]] webcitewhotwi (in Japanese).
• [23][http://bettween.com/] webciteBettween (in Japanese).
• [24][http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000114508.pdf] webciteMinistry of Internal Affairs and Communication Research on Telecom Usage Trend 2010 (in Japanese).
• [25]Christakis NA, Fowler JH: The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. N Engl J Med 2007, 357:370-379.
• [26]Sajadi KP, Goldman HB: Social networks lack useful content for incontinence. Urology 2011, 78:764-767.