Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective

Katherine A Margolis; Laura Catalusci; Jacqueline Cleary

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective

Katherine A Margolis, Laura Catalusci, Jacqueline Cleary

Published in American Journal of Health Research (Volume 2, Issue 1)

Received: 13 November 2013 Published: 20 December 2013

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Abstract

The social media platform, Twitter, was used to understand the patient perspective on experiences with asthma. A content analysis of 844 tweets was conducted. The sample of tweets was obtained by performing a keyword search over the course of a one week period. The categories for coding were established based on a literature review. The most frequently occurring theme to emerge in the data was general disease state (n=115, 13.7%). The next most frequently found themes included triggers of asthma (n=100, 11.8 %) and general treatment (n=95, 11.2%). Asthma was often discussed in a joking manner and tweets were utilized to share medical information. Results proved that Twitter can serve as a valuable research tool to understand how people communicate about health topics.

Published in	American Journal of Health Research (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
Page(s)	1-8
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Asthma, Twitter, Patient Perspective, Health, Content Analysis, Social Media

References

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APA Style

Katherine A Margolis, Laura Catalusci, Jacqueline Cleary. (2013). Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective. American Journal of Health Research, 2(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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ACS Style

Katherine A Margolis; Laura Catalusci; Jacqueline Cleary. Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective. Am. J. Health Res. 2013, 2(1), 1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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AMA Style

Katherine A Margolis, Laura Catalusci, Jacqueline Cleary. Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective. Am J Health Res. 2013;2(1):1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11,
  author = {Katherine A Margolis and Laura Catalusci and Jacqueline Cleary},
  title = {Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective},
  journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-8},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20140201.11},
  abstract = {The social media platform, Twitter, was used to understand the patient perspective on experiences with asthma. A content analysis of 844 tweets was conducted. The sample of tweets was obtained by performing a keyword search over the course of a one week period.  The categories for coding were established based on a literature review. The most frequently occurring theme to emerge in the data was general disease state (n=115, 13.7%). The next most frequently found themes included triggers of asthma (n=100, 11.8 %) and general treatment (n=95, 11.2%). Asthma was often discussed in a joking manner and tweets were utilized to share medical information.  Results proved that Twitter can serve as a valuable research tool to understand how people communicate about health topics.},
 year = {2013}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective
AU  - Katherine A Margolis
AU  - Laura Catalusci
AU  - Jacqueline Cleary
Y1  - 2013/12/20
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
T2  - American Journal of Health Research
JF  - American Journal of Health Research
JO  - American Journal of Health Research
SP  - 1
EP  - 8
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8796
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
AB  - The social media platform, Twitter, was used to understand the patient perspective on experiences with asthma. A content analysis of 844 tweets was conducted. The sample of tweets was obtained by performing a keyword search over the course of a one week period.  The categories for coding were established based on a literature review. The most frequently occurring theme to emerge in the data was general disease state (n=115, 13.7%). The next most frequently found themes included triggers of asthma (n=100, 11.8 %) and general treatment (n=95, 11.2%). Asthma was often discussed in a joking manner and tweets were utilized to share medical information.  Results proved that Twitter can serve as a valuable research tool to understand how people communicate about health topics.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Katherine A Margolis

InVentiv Health Newtown, PA
Laura Catalusci

Draftfcb Healthcare New York, NY
Jacqueline Cleary

Jersey City, USA

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APA Style

Katherine A Margolis, Laura Catalusci, Jacqueline Cleary. (2013). Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective. American Journal of Health Research, 2(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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ACS Style

Katherine A Margolis; Laura Catalusci; Jacqueline Cleary. Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective. Am. J. Health Res. 2013, 2(1), 1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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AMA Style

Katherine A Margolis, Laura Catalusci, Jacqueline Cleary. Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective. Am J Health Res. 2013;2(1):1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11,
  author = {Katherine A Margolis and Laura Catalusci and Jacqueline Cleary},
  title = {Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective},
  journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-8},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20140201.11},
  abstract = {The social media platform, Twitter, was used to understand the patient perspective on experiences with asthma. A content analysis of 844 tweets was conducted. The sample of tweets was obtained by performing a keyword search over the course of a one week period.  The categories for coding were established based on a literature review. The most frequently occurring theme to emerge in the data was general disease state (n=115, 13.7%). The next most frequently found themes included triggers of asthma (n=100, 11.8 %) and general treatment (n=95, 11.2%). Asthma was often discussed in a joking manner and tweets were utilized to share medical information.  Results proved that Twitter can serve as a valuable research tool to understand how people communicate about health topics.},
 year = {2013}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Using Twitter to Elicit the Patient Perspective
AU  - Katherine A Margolis
AU  - Laura Catalusci
AU  - Jacqueline Cleary
Y1  - 2013/12/20
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
T2  - American Journal of Health Research
JF  - American Journal of Health Research
JO  - American Journal of Health Research
SP  - 1
EP  - 8
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8796
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140201.11
AB  - The social media platform, Twitter, was used to understand the patient perspective on experiences with asthma. A content analysis of 844 tweets was conducted. The sample of tweets was obtained by performing a keyword search over the course of a one week period.  The categories for coding were established based on a literature review. The most frequently occurring theme to emerge in the data was general disease state (n=115, 13.7%). The next most frequently found themes included triggers of asthma (n=100, 11.8 %) and general treatment (n=95, 11.2%). Asthma was often discussed in a joking manner and tweets were utilized to share medical information.  Results proved that Twitter can serve as a valuable research tool to understand how people communicate about health topics.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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