The researchers recently completed a pilot analysis of archived tweets on cardiovascular disease. They looked through tweets posted between 2009 and 2015 and found 500,000 English-language tweets that related to cardiovascular disease and originated from the United States. They published their findings in JAMA Cardiology.
The analysis found that users who tweeted about cardiovascular themes were older and more likely to be female than the average Twitter user. The tweets mostly focused on risk factors, awareness and management of cardiovascular disease and related conditions. Tweets also included facts, statistics, tips and links to new disease research.
“We are currently also working on using Twitter for epidemiologic purposes and mapping hypertension and diabetes across the United States using Twitter data,” said Raina M. Merchant, MD, senior author of the study, an assistant professor of emergency medicine and director of Penn’s Social Media and Health Innovation Lab.
More articles on health IT:
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals hopes to implement ‘smart hospital rooms’
Convey Health Solutions links up with New Mountain Capital
How EMR-integrated telehealth can drive value-based metrics
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.