Abstract
Introduction With improvement in complication and remission rates, recent studies have suggested
the viability of transsphenoidal surgery as first-line management for prolactinomas.
Reddit, an online forum, allows posters to interact with one another, and discuss
symptoms, treatments, and disease courses through specialized forums known as “subreddits.”
Given the lack of research comparing patient experience on pharmacotherapy versus
surgery, we sought to assess the sentiment of treatment within the “r/Prolactinoma
subreddit” community.
Methods A search was done by filtering the r/Prolactinoma subreddit. Posts were sorted by
“top” of “all time,” meaning entries with the most engagement throughout the site's
history. Welch's t-test was used to analyze treatment type, while sentiment regarding treatment was
analyzed using grounded theory qualitative methods.
Results From 189 total entries, 82 were included; 33% (n = 27/82) were posts. Of posters disclosing their treatment, 11% underwent surgery
(n = 9/79), while 76% received medication (n = 60/79). The proportion of positive:negative sentiment and level of engagement on
posts regarding pharmacotherapy versus surgical treatments were not significantly
different (p > 0.05). Qualitative analysis showed themes of changes after medical treatment, immediate
changes postsurgery, and online community.
Conclusion Our mixed-methods study found statistically nonsignificant differences in sentiment
when comparing Reddit posts from patients who underwent medical and surgical management.
Qualitative analysis revealed several themes regarding patients' perceptions of medical
and surgical management and the benefits of an online community. The qualitative themes
brought to light by this study may serve to inform future studies examining the patient
experience with prolactinoma care.
Keywords
prolactinoma - social media - sentiment analysis - reddit
