Decoding the Digital Discourse: A Thematic and Sentiment Analysis of Reddit Posts on Eyelid Surgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Plastic Surgery
• Social Media Analysis
• Computational Linguistics

Background:

• Eyelid surgery is a common aesthetic and functional procedure.
• Existing patient-reported outcome measures may not capture unprompted patient concerns shared on social media.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize emotions, language use, and patient priorities in online discussions about eyelid surgery.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods analysis of Reddit posts and comments was conducted.
• Sentiment analysis and emotion lexicon were used to assess emotional content.
• Sociolinguistic features and thematic analysis were applied to understand patient concerns.

Main Results:

• Eyelid surgery discussions showed mixed sentiment, with posts often expressing negative emotions like fear and sadness, while comments trended positive.
• A significant portion of post-comment pairs were discordant, indicating differing sentiments between initial patient posts and subsequent community responses.
• Key themes included preoperative anxiety, dissatisfaction with results, distress over asymmetry, and reliance on social media for surgeon selection.

Conclusions:

• Patients undergoing eyelid surgery are often uncertain about diagnosis and rely on peer reassurance, prioritizing visually apparent aesthetics.
• Addressing patient concerns about asymmetry and variability early in counseling may improve expectation management.
• Online discourse provides insights into patient priorities that can inform clinical practice and future research.