In Their Own Words: Patient Narratives of Breast Cancer Surgery and Reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer's global burden prompts a comprehensive understanding of patient experiences surrounding surgical interventions. Social media platforms serve as a new potential avenue for analysis, reflecting patients' coping mechanisms and support-seeking behaviors. OBJECTIVE: This study's objective is to further understand patient experiences regarding breast cancer interventions via social media to improve physician-patient dialogue. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted of Instagram and TikTok posts surrounding breast cancer surgeries using procedure-related hashtags. Content was categorized to prevalent themes related to Breast-Q foci and was subsequently analyzed. RESULTS: Data from 1,028 individuals were analyzed. Posts encompassed double mastectomy (39%), single mastectomy (22%), and combined deep inferior epigastric perforator flap, latissimus dorsi flap, and transverse rectus abdominis muscle flap reconstruction (39%). Frequently identified themes included 'Raising Awareness' (86.87%), 'Spreading Positivity' (53.11%), 'Resiliency' (31.03%), 'Online Support' (24.61%), 'Update of Appearance' (20.82%), 'Recovery/Rehab' (19.94%), and 'Scientific Explanation' (19.75%). Instagram posts more likely encompassed positivity (p < 0.001), resiliency (p = 0.001), and mental health (p = 0.011). TikTok posts more likely (p = 0.001) discussed scientific explanations, decision-making, and symptoms (p < 0.001). Preoperative posts more likely (p < 0.001) surrounded scientific explanations, decision-making, and fear. Postoperative posts more likely (p < 0.001) highlighted appearance updates, recovery/rehab, and positivity (p = 0.012). Experiences with mastectomy and reconstruction differed: recovery/rehab (p < 0.001), scientific explanations (p = 0.015), treatment process (p = 0.003), range of motion (p < 0.001), self-esteem (p = 0.017), and wound management (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Concerns of patients online reflect Breast-Q measures. Understanding these nuanced patient discussions can provide novel insights for providers. Tailoring interactions through these insights may facilitate enhanced support, discussions, and experiences throughout the treatment journey. Main Points Social media offers a unique insight into personal patient experiences Online breast surgery patient perspectives reflect Breast-Q measures Outlooks from shared online posts may facilitate physician-patient dialogue LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Usefulness and Accuracy of Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Responses to Patient Questions for Neurosurgical Procedures.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Internet has become a primary source of health information, leading patients to seek answers online before consulting health care providers. This study aims to evaluate the implementation of Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) in neurosurgery by assessing the accuracy and helpfulness of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated responses to common postsurgical questions. METHODS: A list of 60 commonly asked questions regarding neurosurgical procedures was developed. ChatGPT-3.0, ChatGPT-3.5, and ChatGPT-4.0 responses to these questions were recorded and graded by numerous practitioners for accuracy and helpfulness. The understandability and actionability of the answers were assessed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool. Readability analysis was conducted using established scales. RESULTS: A total of 1080 responses were evaluated, equally divided among ChatGPT-3.0, 3.5, and 4.0, each contributing 360 responses. The mean helpfulness score across the 3 subsections was 3.511 ± 0.647 while the accuracy score was 4.165 ± 0.567. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool analysis revealed that the AI-generated responses had higher actionability scores than understandability. This indicates that the answers provided practical guidance and recommendations that patients could apply effectively. On the other hand, the mean Flesch Reading Ease score was 33.5, suggesting that the readability level of the responses was relatively complex. The Raygor Readability Estimate scores ranged within the graduate level, with an average score of the 15th grade. CONCLUSION: The artificial intelligence chatbot's responses, although factually accurate, were not rated highly beneficial, with only marginal differences in perceived helpfulness and accuracy between ChatGPT-3.0 and ChatGPT-3.5 versions. Despite this, the responses from ChatGPT-4.0 showed a notable improvement in understandability, indicating enhanced readability over earlier versions.

Patient and Caregiver Perception of Adenoidectomies: A Non-Real-World Social Media Analysis.

Objective: To survey the social media outlets Twitter and Instagram for public posts related to adenoidectomy surgery. This study aims to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of patients and caregivers on social media, through thematic content-analysis of social media posts regarding adenoidectomy. Study Design: Non-real world qualitative study. Setting: Twitter and Instagram social media platforms. Methods: Public posts uploaded between February, 2021 and February, 2023 using the hashtags "#adenoidectomy," and "#adenoidectomyrecovery" were searched. Posts were excluded if they were unrelated to adenoidectomy or were in a non-English language. Relevant posts were stratified demographically as patient or caregiver and pre- or postoperative, and categorized into relevant themes for analysis. Outcomes were measured as the total number of posts. Results: A total of 394 relevant posts were analyzed. A significance threshold of P < 0.05 was used. Patients posted significantly more posts regarding procedure pain (P = 0.002) and concern for appearance (P = 0.048) compared to caregivers. Caregivers posted significantly (P < 0.001) more posts regarding condition awareness and were significantly (P < 0.001) more likely to spread positivity in their posts compared to patients themselves. Posts made by female caregivers were more likely to reference fear, while those made by male caregivers were more likely to provide education (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Patients may worry about appearance and mental health while caregivers are more likely to spread information and positivity. Male and female caregivers may also use social media differently. A better understanding of patient and caregiver concerns may optimize physician interaction and involvement.