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Citation
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Bunting AM, Krawczyk N, Lippincott T, Gu Y, Arya S, Nagappala S, Meacham MC. J. Gen. Intern Med. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Fentanyl is a pressing concern in the current drug supply. Social media data can provide access to near real-time understanding of drug trends that may complement official mortality data.
DESIGN: The total number of fentanyl-related posts and the total number of posts for eight drug subreddit categories (alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, multi-drug, opioids, over the counter, sedatives, stimulants) were collected from 2013 to 2021 using the Pushshift Reddit dataset. The proportion of fentanyl-related posts as a fragment of total subreddit posts was examined. Linear regressions described the rate of change in post volume over time.
RESULTS: Overall, fentanyl-related content increased across drug-related subreddits from 2013 to 2021 (1292% increase, linear trend p ≤ 0.001). Opioid subreddits (30.62 per 1000 posts, linear trend p ≤ 0.001) had the most fentanyl-related content during the examined time period. Multi-drug (5.95 per 1000; p ≤ 0.01), sedative (3.23 per 1000, p ≤ 0.01), and stimulant (1.60 per 1000, p ≤ 0.01) subreddits also had substantial increases in fentanyl-related content. The greatest increases occurred in the multi-drug (1067% 2013:2021) and stimulant (1862% 2014:2021) subreddits.
CONCLUSION: Fentanyl-related posts on Reddit trended upward, with the fastest rate of change for multi-substance and stimulant subreddits. Beyond opioids, harm reduction and public health messaging should ensure inclusion of individuals who use other drugs.
Language: en |