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. 2019 Nov 11;27(2):225–235. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocz191

Table 2.

Example tweets and associated topics

Tweeta Top 3 topicsb
“RT @user1: @ user2 they have had a rise in Anal Cancers due to HPV virus and the fact they think anal sex maintains virginity”

  • Topic 11, “pap smear test” (19%)

  • Topic 14, “HPV related cancers” (13%)

  • Topic 106, “cervical cancer and death” (11%)
“The startling rise in oral cancer in men - another good reason to vaccinate males against HPV https://t.co/xxx”

  • Topic 81, “HPV and oral cancer” (20%)

  • Topic 14, “HPV related cancers” (14%)

  • Topic 147, “doctors' discussions of vaccine” (14%)
“I'm making health calls: HPV infection can cause penile cancer in men; and anal cancer, cancer of the back of the throat.”

  • Topic 14, “HPV related cancers” (29%)

  • Topic 59, “HPV causes cancer” (11%)

  • Topic 18, “HPV, HPV vaccination and HPV related cancer for man” (8%)
“RT @user1: You don't have to have sex to get an STD. Skin-to-skin contact is enough to spread HPV. https://t.co/xxx”

  • Topic 24, “STD and cervical cancer cure” (39%)

  • Topic 56, “questions about HPV and vaccine” (12%)

  • Topic 64, “sex and HPV vaccine” (11%)
“Please join us for a Facebook event about cervical cancer treatments on 1/26 at 2: 00 pm ET https://t.co/xxxhttps://t.co/xxx”

  • Topic 114, “cervical cancer treatment” (20%)

  • Topic 67, “cervical cancer diagnosis and signs” (11%)

  • Topic 95, “treatment” (9%)
“HPV Vaccine That Helps Prevent Cervical Cancer in Women May Cut Oral Cancer https://t.co/xxx”

  • Topic 106, “cervical cancer and death” (29%)

  • Topic 0, “blogs about HPV and HPV commercials” (14%)

  • Topic 27, “HPV infection” (10%)
“my doctor accidentally gave me a fourth dose of gardasil so thats where i'm at today”

  • Topic 147, “doctors' discussions of vaccine” (18%)

  • Topic 138, “discussions about HPV and vaccine” (15%)

  • Topic 37, “cervical cancer risk” (11%)
“New CDC Recommendations for HPV Vaccines https://t.co/xxx”

  • Topic 123, “vaccine recommendation” (25%)

  • Topic 85, “HPV vaccine related needs” (14%)

  • Topic 2, “HPV shot / Gardasil shot” (11%)

aTweets are slightly altered to preserver the privacy of the Twitter users without changing the meaning of the original tweets.

bTopics and associated probability. Note that the cutoff probability is set to .15; thus, topics with probabilities <.15 were eliminated for each tweet.