Thematic Analysis of Reddit Content About Buprenorphine-naloxone Using Manual Annotation and Natural Language Processing Techniques

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Rachel Lynn Graves, University of Pennsylvania; Jeanmarie Perrone, University of Pennsylvania; Mohammed A Al-Garadi, Emory University; Yuan-Chi Yang, Emory University; Jennifers Love, Oregon Hlth & Sci Univ; Karen O'Connor, University of Pennsylvania; Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez, University of Pennsylvania; Abeed Sarker, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-07-01
• Publisher: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000000940
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF ADDICTION MEDICINE
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 454
• End Page: 460
• Grant/Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number R01DA046619. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
• Keywords: qualitative research; CARE; ONLINE; opiate substitution treatment; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; opioid use disorder; Substance Abuse; DISCONTINUATION; social media; Science & Technology; OPIOID USE; buprenorphine
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Biology, Biostatistics

Abstract

Background Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a major public health crisis for which buprenorphine-naloxone is an effective evidence-based treatment. Analysis of Reddit data yields detailed information about firsthand experiences with buprenorphine-naloxone that has the potential to inform treatment of OUD. Methods We conducted a thematic analysis of posts about buprenorphine-naloxone from a Reddit forum in which Reddit users anonymously discuss topics related to opioid use. We used an application programming interface to retrieve posts about buprenorphine-naloxone, then applied natural language processing to generate meta-information and curate samples of salient posts. We manually categorized posts according to their content and conducted natural language processing-aided analysis of posts about buprenorphine tapering strategies, withdrawal symptoms, and adjunctive substances/behaviors useful in the tapering process. Results A total of 16,146 posts from 1933 redditors were retrieved from the /r/suboxone subreddit. Thematic analysis of sample posts (N = 200) revealed descriptions of personal experiences (74%), nonpersonal accounts (24%), and other content (2%). Among redditors who reported tapering to termination (N = 40), 0.063 mg and 0.125 mg were the most common termination doses. Fatigue, gastrointestinal disturbance, and mood disturbance were the most frequent adverse effects, and loperamide and vitamins/dietary supplements the most frequently discussed adverse effects adjunctive substances/behaviors respectively. Conclusions Discussions on Reddit are rich in information about buprenorphine-naloxone. Information derived from analysis of Reddit posts about buprenorphine-naloxone may not be available elsewhere and may help providers improve treatment of people with OUD through better understanding of the experiences of people who have used buprenorphine-naloxone.