Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39652387›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2024

Long COVID Discourse in Canada, the United States, and Europe: Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis of Twitter Data.

Ahmed Ghassan Tawfiq AbuRaed, Emil Azuma Prikryl, Giuseppe Carenini, Naveed Zafar Janjua

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ahmed Ghassan Tawfiq AbuRaedDepartment of Computer Science, The University of British Colombia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6241-7755
Emil Azuma PrikrylNOSM University, Thunder Bay, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-2755-4196
Giuseppe CareniniDepartment of Computer Science, The University of British Colombia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4310-0119
Naveed Zafar JanjuaBC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-5681-719X

Funding

CIHR
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSocial media serves as a vast repository of data, offering insights into public perceptions and emotions surrounding significant societal issues. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, long COVID (formally known as post-COVID-19 condition) has emerged as a chronic health condition, profoundly impacting numerous lives and livelihoods. Given the dynamic nature of long COVID and our evolving understanding of it, effectively capturing people's sentiments and perceptions through social media becomes increasingly crucial. By harnessing the wealth of data available on social platforms, we can better track the evolving narrative surrounding long COVID and the collective efforts to address this pressing issue.

objectiveThis study aimed to investigate people's perceptions and sentiments around long COVID in Canada, the United States, and Europe, by analyzing English-language tweets from these regions using advanced topic modeling and sentiment analysis techniques. Understanding regional differences in public discourse can inform tailored public health strategies.

methodsWe analyzed long COVID-related tweets from 2021. Contextualized topic modeling was used to capture word meanings in context, providing coherent and semantically meaningful topics. Sentiment analysis was conducted in a zero-shot manner using Llama 2, a large language model, to classify tweets into positive, negative, or neutral sentiments. The results were interpreted in collaboration with public health experts, comparing the timelines of topics discussed across the 3 regions. This dual approach enabled a comprehensive understanding of the public discourse surrounding long COVID. We used metrics such as normalized pointwise mutual information for coherence and topic diversity for diversity to ensure robust topic modeling results.

resultsTopic modeling identified five main topics: (1) long COVID in people including children in the context of vaccination, (2) duration and suffering associated with long COVID, (3) persistent symptoms of long COVID, (4) the need for research on long COVID treatment, and (5) measuring long COVID symptoms. Significant concern was noted across all regions about the duration and suffering associated with long COVID, along with consistent discussions on persistent symptoms and calls for more research and better treatments. In particular, the topic of persistent symptoms was highly prevalent, reflecting ongoing challenges faced by individuals with long COVID. Sentiment analysis showed a mix of positive and negative sentiments, fluctuating with significant events and news related to long COVID.

conclusionsOur study combines natural language processing techniques, including contextualized topic modeling and sentiment analysis, along with domain expert input, to provide detailed insights into public health monitoring and intervention. These findings highlight the importance of tracking public discourse on long COVID to inform public health strategies, address misinformation, and provide support to affected individuals. The use of social media analysis in understanding public health issues is underscored, emphasizing the role of emerging technologies in enhancing public health responses.

Indexed as

COVID-19Social MediaCanadaEuropeHumansPandemicsPublic OpinionSARS-CoV-2United Stateslong COVIDpublic healthpublic perceptionsentiment analysissocial media analysistopic modelingTwitter

Identifiers

PMID39652387
PMCPMC11667136

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.