- Email: [email protected]
Tweeting about pain experiences
was noted in the ACDAS score from the first to the second visit between the test group and the control group regarding how they felt about having a pinch feeling in their gum. The summary of the VAS scores over the clinical stages (Fig 2) indicated the children who saw the behavior-modifying video had significantly less anxiety than the children in the control group throughout the procedure they underwent. The difference in anxiety was especially notable at the time of LA administration. Discussion.—The test group was more successful in managing dental anxiety and dealing with fear of the unknown than the control group. A significant difference between the two groups was found on the VAS throughout the rest of the dental treatment process.
Clinical Significance.—Video modelling offers a potentially effective way to diminish dental anxiety, particularly for the administration of LA. In addition, the participants believed the video was well done and of high quality.
Al-Namankany A, Petrie A, Ashley P: Video modelling and reducing anxiety related to dental injections—a randomized clinical trial. Br Dent J 216:675-679, 2014. Reprints available from A Al-Namankany; e-mail: a.alnamankany@ yahoo.com
Tweeting about pain experiences Background.—Pain is reported to affect 100 million adults and costs $560 to $635 billion each year. Orofacial pain may be responsible for up to 40% of the annual costs associated with chronic pain. Toothaches are the most prevalent dental problem and are experienced by 26% of US adults. Even though toothaches are described as painful and having negative effects on the quality of life, between 30% and 54% of people who report toothaches do not seek dental care. Cost-related reasons account for about a third of unmet dental care needs in persons who have toothaches. The reasons for underutilization of dental care should be understood from the patient’s perspective to identify effective channels to reach people who need dental care. A study of self-reported toothache pain compared to three other common types of pain was conducted using the social media service Twitter. Methods.—Twitter offers the opportunity to track health activity or concerns of public health significance. A total of 508,591 relevant tweets were collected on 7 nonconsecutive days, then 1204 tweets, 301 per pain type, were randomly selected. The four types of pain were toothache, backache, earache, and headache. A content analysis of each tweet was then performed and the results compared. Results.—The terms used most often in the final data set (Fig) included back, hurts, hurt, ear, and headache. About half of the final sample of tweets (40.6%) originated from North America. All tweets were coded for
pain intensity. The most frequently coded primary categories after pain intensity were action taken, cause, and effect. These four categories were used to structure the analysis. In 5.3% of the tweets, pain was described as severe, in 33.6% it was moderate, in 29.3% it was mild, and in 31.7% it was neutral—or included no pain intensity. Using a dichotomatous pain intensity variable model (high is moderate to severe and low is mild or neutral), 39.0% described their pain as high intensity and tended to use the high pain level label in a significantly greater number of tweets that dealt with toothaches and backaches compared to those dealing with earaches and headaches. The latter two were described in similar terms with respect to pain intensity. In 13.0% of tweets, Twitter users mentioned an action taken to relieve the pain. In 5.2% they mentioned seeking health care or using medication for the pain. In 59.4%, Twitter users mentioned using home- or selfcare actions to relieve the pain, including going to sleep or getting a massage. Just five Twitter users (0.03%) mentioned experiencing pain relief from the action taken. Those who described high-intensity pain had greater odds of describing seeking health care or using medication than other groups of users. Tweets from people with toothache were more likely to report seeking health care than tweets from people who suffered backache or headache. People with toothaches or earaches had higher and similar odds of seeking health care or using medications.
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Fig.—Word cloud depicting the words used most frequently in 1204 coded tweets. The larger-sized words were used more frequently than were the smaller-sized words. Image created by using www.wordle.net. (Courtesy of Ahlwardt K, Heaivilin N, Gibbs J, et al: Tweeting about pain: Comparing self-reporting toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches. J Am Dent Assoc 145:737-743, 2014.)
One hundred thirty-two tweets mentioned a cause of the pain, with 50.8% describing themselves or something inherent (such as an accident, anatomical abnormality, or emotional distress) as the cause of pain. Just under half (49.2%) of Twitter users attributed the cause of their pain to other elements such as a bacterial infection, food, or an environmental factor. Types of causes were associated with pain types but not with pain intensity. Persons with backaches were more likely to identify themselves as the cause of pain than persons reporting toothaches, headaches, or earaches.
are in pain. The results may be generalizable to people who share other personal health-related experiences.
Clinical Significance.—Although the study cannot be taken to represent an epidemiologic description of pain experiences, it does help us better understand what is going through the minds of people in need of dental care because of toothache. Social media offers them a forum to share information with others and may be used to facilitate communication between such patients and dental care providers.
Sixty-four tweets included a report of the effects from the pain, with 51.6% mentioning an effect on daily function, 23.4% mentioning sleep problems, 14.1% noting mood effects, and 10.9% listing food or drink effects. Pain type was associated with effect on daily function but not with other effects. Pain intensity showed no relationship to pain type. Persons with toothaches were less likely to report an effect on their daily functions than those with backaches or earaches.
Ahlwardt K, Heaivilin N, Gibbs J, et al: Tweeting about pain: Comparing self-reporting toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches. J Am Dent Assoc 145:737743, 2014
Discussion.—Using social media to communicate about a pain experience may be an important way to cope with the discomfort and a useful strategy for patients who
Reprints available from JY Tsoh, Dept of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Univ of California, San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Ave, Box 0984-TRC, San Francisco, CA 94143; e-mail: [email protected]
320
Dental Abstracts
Clinical Significance.—Video modelling offers a potentially effective way to diminish dental anxiety, particularly for the administration of LA. In addition, the participants believed the video was well done and of high quality.
Al-Namankany A, Petrie A, Ashley P: Video modelling and reducing anxiety related to dental injections—a randomized clinical trial. Br Dent J 216:675-679, 2014. Reprints available from A Al-Namankany; e-mail: a.alnamankany@ yahoo.com
Tweeting about pain experiences Background.—Pain is reported to affect 100 million adults and costs $560 to $635 billion each year. Orofacial pain may be responsible for up to 40% of the annual costs associated with chronic pain. Toothaches are the most prevalent dental problem and are experienced by 26% of US adults. Even though toothaches are described as painful and having negative effects on the quality of life, between 30% and 54% of people who report toothaches do not seek dental care. Cost-related reasons account for about a third of unmet dental care needs in persons who have toothaches. The reasons for underutilization of dental care should be understood from the patient’s perspective to identify effective channels to reach people who need dental care. A study of self-reported toothache pain compared to three other common types of pain was conducted using the social media service Twitter. Methods.—Twitter offers the opportunity to track health activity or concerns of public health significance. A total of 508,591 relevant tweets were collected on 7 nonconsecutive days, then 1204 tweets, 301 per pain type, were randomly selected. The four types of pain were toothache, backache, earache, and headache. A content analysis of each tweet was then performed and the results compared. Results.—The terms used most often in the final data set (Fig) included back, hurts, hurt, ear, and headache. About half of the final sample of tweets (40.6%) originated from North America. All tweets were coded for
pain intensity. The most frequently coded primary categories after pain intensity were action taken, cause, and effect. These four categories were used to structure the analysis. In 5.3% of the tweets, pain was described as severe, in 33.6% it was moderate, in 29.3% it was mild, and in 31.7% it was neutral—or included no pain intensity. Using a dichotomatous pain intensity variable model (high is moderate to severe and low is mild or neutral), 39.0% described their pain as high intensity and tended to use the high pain level label in a significantly greater number of tweets that dealt with toothaches and backaches compared to those dealing with earaches and headaches. The latter two were described in similar terms with respect to pain intensity. In 13.0% of tweets, Twitter users mentioned an action taken to relieve the pain. In 5.2% they mentioned seeking health care or using medication for the pain. In 59.4%, Twitter users mentioned using home- or selfcare actions to relieve the pain, including going to sleep or getting a massage. Just five Twitter users (0.03%) mentioned experiencing pain relief from the action taken. Those who described high-intensity pain had greater odds of describing seeking health care or using medication than other groups of users. Tweets from people with toothache were more likely to report seeking health care than tweets from people who suffered backache or headache. People with toothaches or earaches had higher and similar odds of seeking health care or using medications.
Volume 59
Issue 6
2014
319
Fig.—Word cloud depicting the words used most frequently in 1204 coded tweets. The larger-sized words were used more frequently than were the smaller-sized words. Image created by using www.wordle.net. (Courtesy of Ahlwardt K, Heaivilin N, Gibbs J, et al: Tweeting about pain: Comparing self-reporting toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches. J Am Dent Assoc 145:737-743, 2014.)
One hundred thirty-two tweets mentioned a cause of the pain, with 50.8% describing themselves or something inherent (such as an accident, anatomical abnormality, or emotional distress) as the cause of pain. Just under half (49.2%) of Twitter users attributed the cause of their pain to other elements such as a bacterial infection, food, or an environmental factor. Types of causes were associated with pain types but not with pain intensity. Persons with backaches were more likely to identify themselves as the cause of pain than persons reporting toothaches, headaches, or earaches.
are in pain. The results may be generalizable to people who share other personal health-related experiences.
Clinical Significance.—Although the study cannot be taken to represent an epidemiologic description of pain experiences, it does help us better understand what is going through the minds of people in need of dental care because of toothache. Social media offers them a forum to share information with others and may be used to facilitate communication between such patients and dental care providers.
Sixty-four tweets included a report of the effects from the pain, with 51.6% mentioning an effect on daily function, 23.4% mentioning sleep problems, 14.1% noting mood effects, and 10.9% listing food or drink effects. Pain type was associated with effect on daily function but not with other effects. Pain intensity showed no relationship to pain type. Persons with toothaches were less likely to report an effect on their daily functions than those with backaches or earaches.
Ahlwardt K, Heaivilin N, Gibbs J, et al: Tweeting about pain: Comparing self-reporting toothache experiences with those of backaches, earaches and headaches. J Am Dent Assoc 145:737743, 2014
Discussion.—Using social media to communicate about a pain experience may be an important way to cope with the discomfort and a useful strategy for patients who
Reprints available from JY Tsoh, Dept of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Univ of California, San Francisco, 401 Parnassus Ave, Box 0984-TRC, San Francisco, CA 94143; e-mail: [email protected]
320
Dental Abstracts