The Canary in the Coal Mine Tweets: Social Media Reveals Public Perceptions of Non-Medical Use of Opioids

Below:  Conceptual Framework for Categorizing Twitter Messages Containing Personal Experiences and General Perceptions

Below:  Author of Twitter Messages (individuals, organizations, news outlets, other (user name contained search terms, foreign languages, references to non-opioids)

We reviewed 540 messages, of which 375 (69%) messages were related to opioid behaviors. Of these, 316 (84%) originated from individual user accounts; 125 messages expressed personal experience with opioids. The majority of personal messages referenced using opioids to obtain a “high”, use for sleep, or other non-intended use (87,70%). General attitudes regarding opioid use included positive sentiment (52, 27%), comments on others peoples opioid use (57, 30%), and messages containing public health information or links (48, 25%).

In a sample of social media messages mentioning opioid medications, the most common theme amongst English users related to various forms of opioid misuse. Social media can provide insights into the types of misuse of opioids that might aid public health efforts to reduce non-medical opioid use.

Read more at:   http://goo.gl/ngfokf  HT @UCSF