Stroke recovery-what are people talking about on Twitter? A content analysis

PurposePrioritisation exercises seek out what matters to key stakeholders to inform the planning of research. Social media platforms are potentially useful data sources. The aim was to examine the content of tweets, short messages containing text and pictures, to ascertain the priorities of Twitter users regarding stroke recovery.Materials and methodsContent analysis of Twitter was conducted. An electronic search used the identifiers: #strokesurvivor and #strokerecovery. Tweets spanning four weeks from January 2021 were analysed.ResultsThere were 1361 tweets extracted and 486 analysed following exclusion of duplicates and unrelated material. Six themes were uncovered (n = number of tweets): maintaining motivation and positivity (153); sharing of resources (146); raising awareness of stroke (74); symptomatic aspects of recovery (39); experience of rehabilitation (63); and concerns about Covid-19 (17).ConclusionsDespite the brevity of tweets, a rich picture arose. A key limitation was lack of biographical data about Twitter users. Recommendations about topics requiring attention from stroke researchers, clinicians and policy makers are: management of psychological problems; public perception of stroke; rehabilitation considerations including treatment burden, person-centred care and equality of care; symptom management including fatigue and aphasia. Findings can be used to supplement and validate other priority-setting exercises. Priority setting exercises are integral to improving patient care.Twitter is a useful source of data alongside more traditional in-person methods.Key areas of stroke care requiring attention include: psychological support; information sharing; treatment burden; equity of access to rehabilitation services; management of fatigue and aphasia.