Cerebral Cavernous Malformations Patient Perception Analysis via Social Media

Objective: 
The rise of social media has allowed for individuals and patients to connect with each other and influence patient behavior. This study aimed to improve our understanding of the patients’ experience with cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM) via social media.

Methods: 
Instagram and Twitter were searched using terms of (“cavernoma”, “cavernous malformations”, “cavernous angioma”, or “cav mal”). Public Instagram posts tagged with “#cavernoma” and “@cavernoma”, identified 327 posts that directly included a patient’s own experience. Twitter posts that included “#cavernoma” and “@cavernoma” was searched yielding 75 after eliminating those that did not pertain to the patient’s own experience. The posts tweets were coded for the relevant themes related to their experience with the disease.

Results: 
Overall more patients are using Instagram (n=327) over Twitter (n=84) to share their personal experience with CCM with a trend for male patients to use Twitter more compared with female predominance in Instagram. A total of 277 out of 327 (84.7%) Instagram posts and 67 of 84 (89.3%) Twitter posts were made after the patient’s surgery. The most common theme in Instagram was focused on the post-operative rehabilitation process and mobility support (52.0% and 24.5%, respectively). Other common themes present on Twitter and Instagram were recounting symptoms and complications and life satisfaction (26.0% and 24.2% respectively). Cavernoma patients prior to surgery were more likely to discuss on Instagram their symptoms (p = 0.001), fear of bleeding (p < 0.001), and mental health (p = 0.014). Post-operatively, cavernoma patients were more likely to discuss being in a wheelchair than they were pre-operatively (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: 
Social media platforms offer a communication tool for patients with CCM patients to share their experience with other patients and the general public and portrays their personal experience with CCM. These platforms allow for physicians to better understand the patient experience following cavernoma surgery. 
