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Tweeting about pain: comparing self-reported toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches.

ABSTRACT: The authors conducted a study of tweets posted on Twitter to compare self-reported toothache experiences with those of backache, earache and headache in regard to pain intensity, action taken, perceived cause and effect of pain.From a total of 508,591 relevant tweets collected on seven nonconsecutive days, the authors randomly selected 1,204 tweets (301 per pain type) and conducted content analyses of each tweet.Toothaches were described as having higher pain intensity than were earaches or headaches but pain intensity comparable with that of backaches. Despite people who experience toothache being more likely to seek health care than those experiencing backaches (odds ratio [OR], 3.91; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.57-9.71) or headaches (OR, 6.11; 95 percent CI, 2.16-17.25), only one in 10 people with toothaches mentioned seeking health care for their pain. People with toothaches were less likely to report an effect on daily functioning compared with those with backaches (OR, 0.13; 95 percent CI, 0.03-0.56) or earaches (OR, 0.19; 95 percent CI, 0.05-0.77).Using unsolicited self-reported data from Twitter, the authors found similarities and differences in the experiences of people with toothaches compared with those of people with other common pains. These findings offer insights into understanding dental pain and dental care utilization.The use of social media, such as Twitter, to discuss health issues provides opportunities for dental professionals to better understand dental care experiences from the patients' perspective. Furthermore, social media such as Twitter offer providers the opportunity to share information with the public and to facilitate provider-patient communication.

SUBMITTER: Ahlwardt K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4430082 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Tweeting about pain: comparing self-reported toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches.

Ahlwardt Kristina K Heaivilin Natalie N Gibbs Jennifer J Page Jens J Gerbert Barbara B Tsoh Janice Y JY

Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) 20140701 7

<h4>Background</h4>The authors conducted a study of tweets posted on Twitter to compare self-reported toothache experiences with those of backache, earache and headache in regard to pain intensity, action taken, perceived cause and effect of pain.<h4>Methods</h4>From a total of 508,591 relevant tweets collected on seven nonconsecutive days, the authors randomly selected 1,204 tweets (301 per pain type) and conducted content analyses of each tweet.<h4>Results</h4>Toothaches were described as havi ...[more]

PMID: 24982280

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Project description:Purpose: Psychotic experiences in childhood (such as hearing voices or being suspicious) represent an important phenotype for early intervention. However, these experiences can be defined in several ways: self-reported psychotic experiences (SRPE) rely exclusively on the child's report, clinically validated psychotic experiences (CRPE) are based on clinical assessment, and attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) represents a categorization to do with clinical relevance in relation to severity. Very few studies have investigated how these distinctions impact clinical and other domains. The present study aims to compare SRPE, CRPE, and APS among children and adolescents. Methods: This study is part of the Brazilian High-Risk Cohort Study for Psychiatric Disorders, in which 2,241 individuals aged 6-14 years provided self-ratings of 20 psychotic experiences using the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE). A trained psychologist conducted an interview to validate or reject reported experiences and to rate the presence of APS and affective flattening. In parallel, parents provided information about child mental health to an independent interviewer. We tested the association of mutually exclusive categories of non-validated SRPE (nSRPE), clinically validated PE below the threshold for APS (nCRPE), and APS (nSRPE = 33%, nCRPE = 11%, APS = 6%), with parents' information about the child's positive attributes and levels of psychopathology and psychologist assessment of blunted affect. Results: Most associations were qualitatively similar, and there was a dose-response in the strength of associations across categories, such that APS > nCRPE > nSRPE. Experiences in all three categories were associated with female sex. nSRPE were associated with overall levels of psychopathology, but to a lesser degree than nCRPE and APS. APS and nCRPE were associated with less positive attributes, with APS more so than nCRPE. Only APS was associated with affective flattening. Conclusions: In children and adolescents, SRPE, CRPE, and APS all index liability for psychopathology, but as clinician rated relevance increases, associations get stronger and become evident across more domains.

Dataset Information

Tweeting about pain: comparing self-reported toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches.

Publications

Tweeting about pain: comparing self-reported toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches.

Similar Datasets

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