Stroke experiences in weblogs: a feasibility study of sex differences

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Medical Informatics
• Stroke Research

Background:

• Previous hospital record studies indicate women report more nontraditional stroke symptoms than men.
• Nontraditional symptoms may delay diagnosis and treatment seeking.
• Investigating stroke experiences via weblogs offers a novel data source.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of using internet-based blog data for stroke research.
• To explore sex differences in stroke symptom reporting within online narratives.
• To identify factors influencing the reporting of traditional and nontraditional stroke symptoms.

Main Methods:

• Utilized StoryUpgrade program to identify stroke experience stories on blogs.
• Employed relevance feedback to refine story retrieval.
• Coded stories for narrator type, symptoms, stroke type, patient demographics, and treatment delays.

Main Results:

• No significant sex differences in traditional or nontraditional stroke symptoms were found overall.
• First-person narrators, particularly females, were more likely to report mental status changes.
• Hemorrhagic stroke patients were more likely to report nontraditional symptoms compared to ischemic stroke patients.

Conclusions:

• Findings from weblogs corroborate previous hospital-based stroke research.
• Narrator perspective (first- vs. third-person) significantly impacts the reporting of nontraditional stroke symptoms.
• The increasing internet use among older adults supports the viability of weblogs for stroke research.