Sentiment Analysis in Understanding the Potential of Online News in the Public Health Crisis Response.

This study analyzes online news disseminated throughout the pre-, during-, and post-intervention periods of the "Syphilis No!" Project, which was developed in Brazil between November 2018 and March 2019. We investigated the influence of sentiment aspects of news to explore their possible relationships with syphilis testing data in response to the syphilis epidemic in Brazil. A dictionary-based technique (VADER) was chosen to perform sentiment analysis considering the Brazilian Portuguese language. Finally, the data collected were used in statistical tests to obtain other indicators, such as correlation and distribution analysis. Of the 627 news items, 198 (31.58%) were classified as a sentiment of security (TP2; stands for the news type 2), whereas 429 (68.42%) were classified as sentiments that instilled vulnerability (TP3; stands for the news type 3). The correlation between the number of syphilis tests and the number of news types TP2 and TP3 was verified from (i) 2015 to 2017 and (ii) 2018 to 2019. For the TP2 type news, in all periods, the p-values were greater than 0.05, thus generating inconclusive results. From 2015 to 2017, there was an ρ = 0.33 correlation between TP3 news and testing data (p-value = 0.04); the years 2018 and 2019 presented a ρ = 0.67 correlation between TP3 news and the number of syphilis tests performed per month, with p-value = 0.0003. In addition, Granger's test was performed between TP3 news and syphilis testing, which resulted in a p-value = 0.002, thus indicating the existence of Granger causality between these time series. By applying natural language processing to sentiment and informational content analysis of public health campaigns, it was found that the most substantial increase in testing was strongly related to attitude-inducing content (TP3).

Similarity Analysis in Understanding Online News in Response to Public Health Crisis.

BACKGROUND: The "Syphilis No!" campaign the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) launched between November 2018 and March 2019, brought forward the concept "Test, Treat and Cure" to remind the population of the importance of syphilis prevention. In this context, this study aims to analyze the similarity of syphilis online news to comprehend how public health communication interventions influence media coverage of the syphilis issue. METHODS: This paper presented a computational approach to assess the effectiveness of communication actions on a public health problem. Data were collected between January 2015 and December 2019 and processed using the Hermes ecosystem, which utilizes text mining and machine learning algorithms to cluster similar content. RESULTS: Hermes identified 1049 google-indexed web pages containing the term 'syphilis' in Brazil. Of these, 619 were categorized as news stories. In total, 157 were grouped into clusters of at least two similar news items and a single cluster with 462 news classified as "single" for not featuring similar news items. From these, 19 clusters were identified in the pre-campaign period, 23 during the campaign, and 115 in the post-campaign. CONCLUSIONS: The findings presented in this study show that the volume of syphilis-related news reports has increased in recent years and gained popularity after the SNP started, having been boosted during the campaign and escalating even after its completion.

A teleophthalmology system for the diagnosis of ocular urgency in remote areas of Brazil.

PURPOSES: To validate a teleophthalmology mobile system aimed at improving and providing eye urgency screenings in remote and poor area settings in Brazil. The system enables one or more ophthalmologists to remotely examine a patient's condition and submit a decision describing the gravity of the case. If necessary, the patient can be forwarded to a hospital for further consultation. METHODS: A cellphone (Nexus One model, with a 5 megapixel camera) was used to collect data and pictures from 100 randomly selected patients at the Ophthalmology Emergency Room located at the General Hospital of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). Data was then sent remotely to an online recording system to be reviewed by an ophthalmologist who provided feedback regarding the state of ocular urgency. RESULTS were then compared to the gold standard diagnosis provided at the hospital. RESULTS: The diagnosis of urgency was given by two ophthalmologists: one in the hospital (gold standard) and one remotely. When we compared both diagnoses we obtained results of 81.94% specificity, 92.85% sensitivity, and 85% accuracy, with a negative predictive value of 96.72%. This work also included a processing time analysis, resulting in an average time of 8.6 min per patient for remote consultations. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first that has used only a cellphone for diagnosing the urgency of ocular cases. Based on our results, the system can provide a reliable distinction between urgent and non-urgent situations and can offer a viable alternative for the servicing of underprivileged areas. In screening techniques, the most important outcome is to identify urgent cases with a high level of sensitivity and predictive negative value. Thus, our results demonstrate that this tool is robust and we suggest that a major study aimed to verify its efficiency in resource-poor areas should be initiated.

A teleophthalmology system for the diagnosis of ocular urgency in remote areas of Brazil / Um sistema de teleoftalmologia para triagem de urgências em áreas remotas do Brasil

Purposes: To validate a teleophthalmology mobile system aimed at improving and providing eye urgency screenings in remote and poor area settings in Brazil. The system enables one or more ophthalmologists to remotely examine a patient's condition and submit a decision describing the gravity of the case. If necessary, the patient can be forwarded to a hospital for further consultation. Methods: A cellphone (Nexus One model, with a 5 megapixel camera) was used to collect data and pictures from 100 randomly selected patients at the Ophthalmology Emergency Room located at the General Hospital of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). Data was then sent remotely to an online recording system to be reviewed by an ophthalmologist who provided feedback regarding the state of ocular urgency. Results were then compared to the gold standard diagnosis provided at the hospital. Results: The diagnosis of urgency was given by two ophthalmologists: one in the hospital (gold standard) and one remotely. When we compared both diagnoses we obtained results of 81.94% specificity, 92.85% sensitivity, and 85% accuracy, with a negative predictive value of 96.72%. This work also included a processing time analysis, resulting in an average time of 8.6 min per patient for remote consultations. Conclusions: This study is the first that has used only a cellphone for diagnosing the urgency of ocular cases. Based on our results, the system can provide a reliable distinction between urgent and non-urgent situations and can offer a viable alternative for the servicing of underprivileged areas. In screening techniques, the most important outcome is to identify urgent cases with a high level of sensitivity and predictive negative value. Thus, our results demonstrate that this tool is robust and we suggest that a major study aimed to verify its efficiency in resource-poor areas should be initiated. .

Objetivos: Validar um sistema de teleoftalmologia móvel que tem como objetivo fornecer triagem de urgências oftalmológicas em áreas remotas e desfavorecidas do Brasil. O sistema permite que um ou mais oftalmologistas possam examinar remotamente a condição do paciente e apresentar uma decisão que descreve a gravidade do caso. Se necessário, o paciente será encaminhado ao hospital para consulta. Métodos: Através de um celular e sua câmera (modelo Nexus One com câmera de 5 megapixel), foram coletados dados de 100 pacientes aleatoriamente selecionados no pronto socorro oftalmológico da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) e enviados remotamente para um sistema online, por meio do qual um oftalmologista analisou-os e enviou um diagnóstico sobre a gravidade dos casos. Os resultados enviados foram comparados com o padrão ouro que foi fornecido pelo médico no hospital. Resultados: O diagnóstico foi fornecido por dois oftalmologistas: um no hospital (padrão outro) e outro remotamente. Comparando os resultados dos diagnósticos, foi obtido 81,94% de especificidade, 92,85% de sensibilidade, acurácia de 85% e um valor preditivo negativo de 96,72%. Também foi testado o desempenho do sistema, resultando num tempo de processamento do atendimento remoto em média de 8,6 minutos por paciente. Conclusões: Esta solução de baixo custo é a primeira da literatura que utiliza apenas o telefone celular para detectar urgências oftalmológicas. Com base nos resultados, o sistema consegue oferecer um atendimento confiável, diferenciando os casos de urgências e não urgências através da plataforma de telemedicina. Como ferramenta de triagem, o mais importante é identificar os casos de urgência (ter alta sensibilidade). Assim, os resultados obtidos demonstram que a ferramenta ...