New research suggests that Facebook posts can be used to identify depression, anxiety and psychosis. A set of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in America believe that an analysis of the content of a person’s social media posts will help to spot these conditions.

 

The researchers said that they were able to know some things about the person’s lifestyle choices. This came after they analysed the language in about 1000 Facebook users’ posts. They could also tell how they were feeling and determine who needed medical treatment.

 

 

The lead author of the research, Dr Raina Merchant, confirmed this. She said; “This work is early, but our hope is that the insights gleaned from these posts could be used to better inform patients and providers about their health.”

 

Merchant explained that “as social media posts are often about someone’s lifestyle choices and experiences or how they’re feeling, this information could provide additional information about disease management and exacerbation.”

 

The research team used automated data collection. They analysed the participants’ entire Facebook history and matched it with their electronic medical records.

 

The method

They employed three different models to assess the data. They first focused on Facebook data only. Next, they used demographics like s*x and age. And lastly, they combine both datasets. They looked into 21 different conditions and were able to predict their medical history from Facebook data alone.

 

 

They used words like bottle and drink to predict alcohol abuse. Furthermore, they found hostile languages to be signs of drug abuse and psychoses.

 

A study by the same team in 2018 posited that posts on social media platforms, like Facebook, can predict depression. They explain that it will, however, be difficult to predict how popular it will be if patients were to opt for this version of diagnosis. They believe it could prove very valuable for people who constantly use social media.

 

Merchant said, “For instance, if someone is trying to lose weight and needs help understanding their food choices and exercise regimens, having a healthcare provider review their social media record might give them more insight into their usual patterns in order to help improve them.”

 

A trial will occur later in 2019 that will ask patients to share social media content with their health care providers. The researchers also look to see if patients will willingly use their online posts for healthcare.