Sapna Thaker, Justin Y H Chan, Karan N Thaker, Rebecca A Takele, Abigail F Newlands, Kayleigh Maxwell, Yasin Bhanji, Melissa Kramer, Kymora B Scotland
{"title":"Public Interest in Online Information on Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections Is Greatest for Information with the Poorest Publication Quality.","authors":"Sapna Thaker, Justin Y H Chan, Karan N Thaker, Rebecca A Takele, Abigail F Newlands, Kayleigh Maxwell, Yasin Bhanji, Melissa Kramer, Kymora B Scotland","doi":"10.3390/pathogens13121125","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Background</i>: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most prevalent bacterial infections. With many patients turning to the Internet as a health resource, this study seeks to understand public engagement with online resources concerning recurrent UTIs (rUTIs), assess their reliability, and identify common questions/concerns about rUTIs. <i>Methods</i>: Social media analysis tool BuzzSumo was used to calculate online engagement (likes, shares, comments, views) with information on rUTIs. The reliability of highly engaged articles was evaluated using the DISCERN questionnaire. Highly engaged categories were entered as keywords in Google Trends to quantify search interest. To categorize patient-specific concerns, a database containing anonymously collected patient questions about rUTIs was created. <i>Results</i>: BuzzSumo revealed four search categories: general information, treatment, causes, and herbal remedies. DISCERN scores indicated moderate reliability overall; however, the \"herbal remedies\" category demonstrated poor reliability despite high engagement. Google Trends analysis highlighted \"causes\" and \"treatment\" searches as highest in relative interest. The 10 most popular categories of concern were antibiotics, microbiome, vaccines, prevention, pelvic pain, sex, testing, symptoms, diet/lifestyle, and hormones. <i>Conclusions</i>: People living with rUTIs demonstrate key concerns and often seek information online, yet articles with high engagement often contain unreliable information. Healthcare professionals may consider counteracting misinformation by providing evidence-based information online about rUTIs.</p>","PeriodicalId":19758,"journal":{"name":"Pathogens","volume":"13 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11679484/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pathogens","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13121125","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most prevalent bacterial infections. With many patients turning to the Internet as a health resource, this study seeks to understand public engagement with online resources concerning recurrent UTIs (rUTIs), assess their reliability, and identify common questions/concerns about rUTIs. Methods: Social media analysis tool BuzzSumo was used to calculate online engagement (likes, shares, comments, views) with information on rUTIs. The reliability of highly engaged articles was evaluated using the DISCERN questionnaire. Highly engaged categories were entered as keywords in Google Trends to quantify search interest. To categorize patient-specific concerns, a database containing anonymously collected patient questions about rUTIs was created. Results: BuzzSumo revealed four search categories: general information, treatment, causes, and herbal remedies. DISCERN scores indicated moderate reliability overall; however, the "herbal remedies" category demonstrated poor reliability despite high engagement. Google Trends analysis highlighted "causes" and "treatment" searches as highest in relative interest. The 10 most popular categories of concern were antibiotics, microbiome, vaccines, prevention, pelvic pain, sex, testing, symptoms, diet/lifestyle, and hormones. Conclusions: People living with rUTIs demonstrate key concerns and often seek information online, yet articles with high engagement often contain unreliable information. Healthcare professionals may consider counteracting misinformation by providing evidence-based information online about rUTIs.
期刊介绍:
Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817) publishes reviews, regular research papers and short notes on all aspects of pathogens and pathogen-host interactions. There is no restriction on the length of the papers. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical research in as much detail as possible. Full experimental and/or methodical details must be provided for research articles.