Trends in Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Social Media Posts Using Artificial Intelligence.

Background: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have surged in popularity in recent years, with discussions about their on-label and off-label use spilling into the public forum. No study has analyzed online discussions about GLP-1RAs.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze perceptions of GLP-1RAs on social media.
Methods: We analyzed GLP-1RA-related posts on Reddit between May 28, 2013, and June 1, 2023. All posts were identified that included generic or brand names of GLP-1RAs. Post volume on Reddit was compared to search interest on Google over time. An artificial intelligence (AI) pipeline consisting of a semi-supervised natural language processing model (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers [BERT]), a dimensionality reduction technique, and a clustering algorithm was used to cluster posts into related topics. Discussion sentiment was classified using a pretrained BERT model and assessed qualitatively.
Results: 14,390 GLP-1RA-related Reddit posts by 8,412 authors were identified. Ninety-four percent of posts were created after 2021, consistent with search interest trend on Google. We used the AI model to categorize posts into 30 topics which were hierarchically grouped by the model based on shared content. Posts were identified among communities for individuals with diabetes and obesity, as well as for diseases without a Food and Drug Administration-approved indication. Most posts had a negative sentiment using the pretrained model, acknowledging the pretrained model is at risk for misclassifying posts.
Conclusions: AI can generate insights on perceptions of GLP-1RAs on social media. Common themes included success stories of improving diabetes and obesity management, struggles with insurance coverage, and questions regarding diet, side effects, and medication administration.
Competing Interests: Under a license agreement between Corrie Health and Johns Hopkins University, the university owns equity in Corrie Health. The university, Drs Marvel and Martin are entitled to royalty distributions related to Corrie Health. In addition, Drs Marvel and Martin are cofounders of and hold equity in Corrie Health. This arrangement has been reviewed and approved by Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. Drs Marvel and Martin have also received research and material support from 10.13039/100017567Apple. Furthermore, Dr Martin is on the Advisory Board for Care Access and reports personal consulting fees from Amgen, BMS, AstraZeneca, Chroma, Kaneka, NewAmsterdam, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Premier, Sanofi, and 89bio; and also reports research support from the 10.13039/100000968American Heart Association (20SFRN35380046, 20SFRN35490003, #878924, #882415, #946222), the 10.13039/100006093Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (ME-2019C1-15 328, IHS-2021C3-24147), the 10.13039/100000002National Institutes of Health (NIH) (P01 HL108800 and R01AG071032), the 10.13039/100015926David and June Trone Family Foundation, the Pollin Digital Innovation Fund, Sandra and Larry Small, Google, and Merck. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
(© 2024 The Authors.)