Small cohort of patients with epilepsy showed increased activity on Facebook before sudden unexpected death.
Epilepsy Behav
; 128: 108580, 2022 03.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35151186
ABSTRACT
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) remains a leading cause of death in people with epilepsy. Despite the constant risk for patients and bereavement to family members, to date the physiological mechanisms of SUDEP remain unknown. Here we explore the potential to identify putative predictive signals of SUDEP from online digital behavioral data using text and sentiment analysis tools. Specifically, we analyze Facebook timelines of six patients with epilepsy deceased due to SUDEP, donated by surviving family members. We find preliminary evidence for behavioral changes detectable by text and sentiment analysis tools. Namely, in the months preceding their SUDEP event patient social media timelines show i) increase in verbosity; ii) increased use of functional words; and iii) sentiment shifts as measured by different sentiment analysis tools. Combined, these results suggest that social media engagement, as well as its sentiment, may serve as possible early-warning signals for SUDEP in people with epilepsy. While the small sample of patient timelines analyzed in this study prevents generalization, our preliminary investigation demonstrates the potential of social media data as complementary data in larger studies of SUDEP and epilepsy.
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Texto completo:
1
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Epilepsia
/
Medios de Comunicación Sociales
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Muerte Súbita e Inesperada en la Epilepsia
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
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Observational_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Epilepsy Behav
Asunto de la revista:
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
NEUROLOGIA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article