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Twitter response to the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommendations against screening with prostate‐specific antigen
Author(s) -
Prabhu Vinay,
Lee Ted,
Loeb Stacy,
Holmes John H.,
Gold Heather T.,
Lepor Herbert,
Penson David F.,
Makarov Danil V.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
bju international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1464-410X
pISSN - 1464-4096
DOI - 10.1111/bju.12748
Subject(s) - task force , medicine , prostate cancer screening , social media , prostate specific antigen , family medicine , prostate cancer , political science , computer science , world wide web , cancer , public administration
Objective To examine public and media response to the draft ( O ctober 2011) and finalised ( M ay 2012) recommendations of the U nited S tates Preventive Services Task Force ( USPSTF ) against prostate‐specific antigen ( PSA ) testing via Twitter, a popular social network with over 200 million active users. Materials and Methods We used a mixed‐methods design to analyse posts on Twitter, known as ‘tweets’. Using the search term ‘prostate cancer’, we archived tweets in the 24‐h periods following the release of both the draft and the finalised USPSTF recommendations. We recorded tweet rate per h and developed a coding system to assess the type of user and sentiment expressed in tweets and linked articles. Results After the draft and finalised USPSTF recommendations were released, 2042 and 5357 tweets focused on the USPSTF report, respectively. The tweet rate nearly doubled within 2 h of both announcements. Fewer than 10% of tweets expressed an opinion about screening, and the majority of these were pro‐screening during both periods. By contrast, anti‐screening articles were tweeted more frequently in both the draft and finalised study periods. Between the draft and the finalised recommendations, the proportion of anti‐screening tweets and anti‐screening article links increased ( P = 0.03 and P < 0.01, respectively). Conclusions There was increased Twitter activity surrounding the USPSTF draft and finalised recommendations. The percentage of anti‐screening tweets and articles appeared to increase, perhaps due to the interval public comment period. Despite this, most tweets did not express an opinion, suggesting a missed opportunity in this important arena for advocacy.