Exploring brand-name drug mentions on Twitter for pharmacovigilance
Carbonell, P.; Mayer, M.A.; Bravo, Àlex.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 210: 55-59
2015
ISSN/ISBN: 0926-9630 PMID: 25991101 Document Number: 683673
Twitter has been proposed by several studies as a means to track public health trends such as influenza and Ebola outbreaks by analyzing user messages in order to measure different population features and interests. In this work we analyze the number and features of mentions on Twitter of drug brand names in order to explore the potential usefulness of the automated detection of drug side effects and drug-drug interactions on social media platforms such as Twitter. This information can be used for the development of predictive models for drug toxicity, drug-drug interactions or drug resistance. Taking into account the large number of drug brand mentions that we found on Twitter, it is promising as a tool for the detection, understanding and monitoring the way people manage prescribed drugs.