Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
Background: Social media enables the rapid consumption of news related to COVID-19 and serves as a platform for discussions. Its richness in text-based data in the form of posts and comments allows researchers to identify popular topics and assess public sentiment. Nonetheless, the vast majority of topic extraction and sentiment analysis based on social media is performed on the platform or country level and does not account for local culture and policies.
Objective: The aim of this study is to use location-based subreddits on Reddit to study city-level variations in sentiments toward vaccine-related topics.
Methods: Comments on posts providing regular updates on COVID-19 statistics in the Vancouver (r/vancouver, n=49,291), Toronto (r/toronto, n=20,764), and Calgary (r/calgary, n=21,277) subreddits between July 13, 2020, and June 14, 2021, were extracted. Latent Dirichlet allocation was used to identify frequently discussed topics. Sentiment (joy, sadness, fear, and anger) scores were assigned to comments through random forest regression.
Results: The number of comments on the 250 posts from the Vancouver subreddit positively correlated with the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in British Columbia (R=0.51, 95% CI for slope 0.18-0.29; P<.001). From the comments, 13 topics were identified. Two were related to vaccines, 1 regarding vaccine uptake and the other about vaccine supply. The levels of discussion for both topics were linked to the total number of vaccines administered (Granger test for causality, P<.001). Comments pertaining to either topic displayed higher scores for joy than for other topics (P<.001). Calgary and Toronto also discussed vaccine uptake. Sentiment scores for this topic differed across the 3 cities (P<.001).
Conclusions: Our work demonstrates that data from city-specific subreddits can be used to better understand concerns and sentiments around COVID-19 vaccines at the local level. This can potentially lead to more targeted and publicly acceptable policies based on content on social media.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8477909 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/32685 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Community Resident Survey of COVID-19 Vaccine Attitude, Knowledge and Acceptance.
J Healthc Sci Humanit
January 2024
Institute of Public Health, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Introduction: COVID-19 infects minority groups with comorbidities at higher rates than whites. In addition, children are at risk of vaccine hesitancy based on parents' acceptance and due to disparity. About twenty percent of workers would get vaccinated, especially if required by work.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoft drink consumption among Saudi women: patterns and influencing factors.
Front Public Health
September 2025
Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Objective: Saudi Arabia has one of the highest prevalences of obesity worldwide, and excessive consumption of sweetened soft drinks significantly contributes to this. In this study, we investigated the patterns of soft drink consumption among Saudi women and identified the socio-demographic and attitudinal factors influencing these patterns.
Design: We studied 1,555 Saudi women aged 20-60 years between October 2022 and March 2023.
Fertility Concerns and Information Needs and Preferences of Australian Women With Chronic Kidney Disease: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.
Perspect Sex Reprod Health
September 2025
Department of Nephrology, Western Health, Victoria, Australia.
Objective: Pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes for women with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Yet few women with CKD report receiving information about pregnancy and often experience difficulties making informed childbearing decisions and optimizing pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify the fertility and childbearing concerns and related information needs and preferences of women with CKD living in Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen's knowledge, attitudes and interest in antenatal perineal massage - a cross-sectional survey.
J Obstet Gynaecol
December 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong.
Background: Antenatal perineal massage (APM) is an established technique for preventing severe perineal trauma, but it is uncommonly practised in Hong Kong. This study aimed to investigate pregnant women's knowledge, attitudes and interest in APM, and to identify factors that influence their interest in the technique.
Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted over 7 months at Princess Margaret Hospital.
Experiencing stigmatization during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study among healthcare workers.
BMC Infect Dis
September 2025
Department Health and Prevention, Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Robert-Blum-Str. 13, Greifswald, 17489, Germany.
Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) played a crucial role in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to increased workloads, they were confronted with stigmatization due to their work in the health sector.
Methods: Guided by the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework (HSDF), this study aimed to explore the experiences of stigmatization of HCWs in Germany using semi-structured interviews (N = 34) and investigate effective coping strategies and existing needs in this context.