“You Should Get That Checked Out”: An Exploratory Analysis of Health-Related Discussions on Reddit

Abstract Introduction/Objective Social media has become a widely-used way for people to share opinions about healthcare and medical topics. Social media data can be leveraged to understand patient concerns and provide insight into why patients may turn to an internet forum, rather than the healthcare system, for health advice. Data collected on users’ questions and discussions can be used to better manage healthcare resources, including laboratory tests. We aimed to investigate Reddit posts discussing medical conditions and characterize their implications. Methods/Case Report We collected one year of Reddit posts containing the phrases “get tested” and “get checked.” An initial selection of posts was manually read by the authors to categorize the issues discussed in the posts into conditions. An automated script was then developed to assign additional posts to conditions, based on keywords. Condition assignment was performed on the entire one-year Reddit dataset. Related conditions were grouped into broader medical topics. Analysis of the condition assignments was then performed to assess condition and medical topic frequencies in medical condition-focused subreddits and general (non-medical-focused) subreddits. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) Among all conditions, STIs, eye disorders, anxiety, and pregnancy had the highest post frequency. Of the broader medical topics, the most frequent were psychiatry and mental health; genitourinary and reproductive health; infectious disease; and endocrinology, nutrition, and metabolism. Overall, conditions that appeared most frequently as a top-five condition in general subreddits included addiction and drug use, ADHD, abuse, and STIs. These conditions may be associated with fear of stigmatization. Conclusion Overall, we find that health discussions center on certain topics on Reddit. These topics may represent areas where people feel more comfortable discussing their health online, and where the healthcare system could focus additional outreach and resources. They may also shed light on how laboratory tests can be best managed.