Project Status: Completed
Project Summary
Project Findings
1. Validity
We used this tool do a “preference exploration”—specifically, we analysed Reddit discussions about different drug therapies for multiple sclerosis. The results were similar to results researchers found before, which suggests that our natural language processing tool works for this purpose.
2. Scalability
To use the tool on these Reddit discussions, we had to build a lexicon (word bank) of relevant terms using the tool and some human curation. This was a practical step, because patients using social media express opinions about a limited number of concepts. In our case, the initial list of “aspect-opinion pairs” extracted using our tool was around 1000, even as more text was added. This suggests our tool is usable at larger scales.
3. Versatility
We also found that these curated lexicons could be used for other areas of health, suggesting that this tool can be versatile. Specifically, we used the lexicon curated from MS, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer forums to instead analyse data on COVID-19 forms successfully.
4. Limitations
Finally, one limitation of the tool is that it will likely be much more challenging to use to understand patient “trade-offs” (e.g., whether they would prefer a less effective but cheaper treatment vs a more effective but more expensive treatment).
Overall, our hope is that this will allow potential users to easily and quickly use the vast amount of social media data available to generate insights and hypotheses on patient experiences and preferences, and this will inform the development of new medical products, health services, and policies.
Methods Matters Webinar Highlights
Unexpected challenges adapting non-health tools for health research
Beyond research: how patients can use “social media listening”
Further uses of “social media listening” – COVID vaccines & student experience
Full Recording and Slides
Team
Larry Lynd, PI
Nick Dragojlovic
Raymond Ng
Giuseppe Carenini
David Johnson
Nicola Kopac
Marilyn Lenzen
Sarah le Huray
Yifu (Charles) Chen
Samantha Pollard
Mark Harrison
Dean Regier
Kennedy Borle
Amy George
Project Themes
Patient and Public Values in Research