IADR/AADR publish study on use of Twitter for public health surveillance of dental pain
2011-07-19
(Press-News.org) Alexandria, VA, USA – The microblogging service Twitter is a new means for the public to communicate health concerns and could afford health care professionals new ways to communicate with patients. With the growing ubiquity of user-generated online content via social networking Web sites such as Twitter, it is clear we are experiencing a revolution in communication and information sharing. In a study titled "Public Health Surveillance of Dental Pain via Twitter," published in the Journal of Dental Research—the official publication of the International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR), researchers demonstrated that Twitter users are already extensively sharing their experiences of toothache and seeking advice from other users. Researchers Natalie Heaivilin, Barbara Gerbert, Jens Page and Jennifer Gibbs all from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, authored this study.
The researchers investigated the content of Twitter posts meeting search criteria relating to dental pain. A set of 1,000 tweets was randomly selected from 4,859 tweets over seven nonconsecutive days. The content was coded using pre-established, non-mutually exclusive categories, including the experience of dental pain, actions taken or contemplated in response to a toothache, impact on daily life and advice sought from the Twitter community.
After excluding ambiguous tweets, spam and repeat users, 772 tweets were analyzed and frequencies calculated. Of those tweets, 83% were primarily categorized as a general statement of dental pain, 22% as an action taken or contemplated, and 15% as describing an impact on daily activities. Among the actions taken or contemplated, 44% reported seeing a dentist, 43% took an analgesic or antibiotic medication and 14% actively sought advice from the Twitter community.
This research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the Office of the Director, and the UCSF Clinical & Translational Science Institute.
"This paper highlights the potential of using social media to collect public health data for research purposes," said JDR Editor-in-Chief William Giannobile. "Utilizing Twitter is an interesting, early stage approach with potential impact in the assessment of large sets of population information."
A perspective article titled "Using Social Media for Research and Public Health Surveillance" was written by Paul Eke of the Centers for Disease Control. In it, he states that the extensive reach of Twitter is currently being used successfully in public health to distribute health information to the segments of the public who access Twitter, but there are major limitations and challenges to be overcome before Twitter and its data products can be used for routine public health surveillance.
###
Visit http://jdr.sagepub.com/content/early/recent for links to the complete articles or contact Ingrid L. Thomas at ithomas@iadr.org to request the PDFs.
About the Journal of Dental Research
The IADR/AADR Journal of Dental Research is a multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the dissemination of new knowledge in all sciences relevant to dentistry and the oral cavity and associated structures in health and disease. At .02261, the JDR holds the highest Eigenfactor Score of all dental journals publishing original research and continues to be ranked number one in Article Influence Score, reflecting the influential nature of the Journal's content.
About the International Association for Dental Research
The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with nearly 11,000 individual members worldwide, dedicated to: (1) advancing research and increasing knowledge to improve oral health, (2) supporting the oral health research community, and (3) facilitating the communication and application of research findings for the improvement of oral health worldwide. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org. The American Association for Dental Research (AADR) is the largest Division of IADR, with nearly 4,000 members in the United States. To learn more, visit www.aadronline.org.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-07-19
Those solar panels on top of your roof aren't just providing clean power; they are cooling your house, or your workplace, too, according to a team of researchers led by Jan Kleissl, a professor of environmental engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
In a study in an upcoming issue of the journal Solar Energy, Kleissl and his team published what they believe are the first peer-reviewed measurements of the cooling benefits provided by solar photovoltaic panels. Using thermal imaging, researchers determined that during the day, a building's ceiling ...
2011-07-19
(Garrison, NY) The Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund awarded The Hastings Center a $159,000 grant to explore the ethical, scientific, and legal issues on using animals in medical research and on the prospects for using alternatives to animal models.
The project comes at a time when arguments about animal experimentation are changing in fundamental and profound ways. Scientific journals and some biomedical researchers are calling for increased public engagement and education about animal research. The longstanding view that one is either pro-medical progress or pro-animal ...
2011-07-19
A simple eight-question survey administered soon after injury can help predict which of the 30 million Americans seeking hospital treatment for injuries each year may develop depression or post-traumatic stress, report Therese S. Richmond, PhD, CRNP, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and her colleagues in General Hospital Psychiatry.
"Depression and PTSD exert a significant, independent, and persistent effect on general health, work status, somatic symptoms, adjustment to illness, and function after injury," the authors wrote, also ...
2011-07-19
In a study published recently in the journal Science Signaling Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists demonstrate on the molecular level how the anti-malaria drug chloroquine represses inflammation, which may provide a blueprint for new strategies for treating inflammation and a multitude of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and certain cancers.
Chloroquine is a widely used anti-malaria drug that inhibits the growth of parasites. For decades, chloroquine and its derivative amodiaquine have also been used as anti-inflammation drugs to treat ...
2011-07-19
Business users take advantage of trial software so they can understand exactly what they are purchasing, but they still have to buy support plans on blind faith. One company is changing that. MadCap Software, Inc. (http://www.madcapsoftware.com), the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Visual Studio and Microsoft XPS, today announced that every 30-day free trial version of its technical communications software now also comes with a 30-day free trial of MadCap's Gold Level technical support. Gold Level support during ...
2011-07-19
Research published recently in PLoS One delivers new insight about rapid toxin evolution in venomous snakes: pitvipers such as rattlesnakes may be engaged in an arms race with opossums, a group of snake-eating American marsupials. Although some mammals have long been known to eat venomous snakes, this fact has not been factored into previous explanations for the rapid evolution of snake venom. Instead, snake venom is usually seen as a feeding, or trophic, adaptation. But new molecular research on snake-eating opossums by researchers affiliated with the American Museum of ...
2011-07-19
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Quantum dots made from cadmium and selenium degrade in soil, unleashing toxic cadmium and selenium ions into their surroundings, a University at Buffalo study has found.
The research, accepted for publication in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, demonstrates the importance of learning more about how quantum dots -- and other nanomaterials -- interact with the environment after disposal, said Diana Aga, the chemistry professor who led the study.
Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals with diameters of about 2 to 100 nanometers. ...
2011-07-19
Howard H. Collens, attorney at the probate and estate planning law firm of Galloway and Collens, PLLC, spoke at a professional training seminar on The Probate Process From Start to Finish for Paralegals, sponsored by the Institute for Paralegal Education (IPE).
The seminar, which took place on June 7, 2011, aimed to increase the understanding and effectiveness of paralegals, legal assistants and legal secretaries during the legal process which may be required after a person dies. Howard H. Collens spoke about topics related to the probate process including the ethical ...
2011-07-19
HOUSTON -- (July 18, 2011) -- Rice University scientists have defined the structure -- down to the atomic level -- of a virus that causes juvenile diarrhea. The research may help direct efforts to develop medications that block the virus before it becomes infectious.
The new paper by Professor Yizhi Jane Tao, postdoctoral researcher Jinhui Dong and their colleagues was published in today's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tao's Rice lab specializes in gleaning fine details of viral structures through X-ray crystallography and computer ...
2011-07-19
PRONicaragua recently announced the organization of the premier investment forum titled Nicaragua, Let's Grow Together!, which will showcase the country's sustainable growth in various economic sectors and its competitive advantages as an attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).
The event will take place on August 16th and 17th in Managua, Nicaragua, and will focus on specialized sectors such as apparel, footwear, food processing and manufacturing, as well as world-class bilingual business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Participants will be coming ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] IADR/AADR publish study on use of Twitter for public health surveillance of dental pain
