October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Canada. As part of our commitment to open science, JMIR Publications is highlighting research published in our journals aimed at understanding and combating this disease. We hope this research reaches a wide audience, empowering people to learn more about their risk and risk mitigation strategies and reducing the anxiety that a potential breast cancer diagnosis can bring.
More than 85% of patients report heightened levels of anxiety following a breast cancer diagnosis. However, for many, the most stressful period is actually the pre-diagnostic phase, when uncertainty is highest and a lump or abnormal mammogram result can trigger immense distress. Understanding what drives this early anxiety is crucial for providing timely, effective psychosocial support.
Joni Pierce, a PhD student from the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Utah, and her team utilized a unique data source to explore this issue. In their paper, "Identifying Factors Associated with Heightened Anxiety During Breast Cancer Diagnosis Through the Analysis of Social Media Data on Reddit: Mixed Methods Study," published in JMIR Cancer, they analyzed individual social media posts to track the evolution of cancer-related anxiety.
The researchers used a mixed method approach, combining natural language processing (NLP)-based computational methods with deep descriptive analysis. They analyzed 2170 unique posts from the breast cancer subreddit, classifying them by diagnostic stage (prediagnosis, diagnosis, and postdiagnosis) and using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) tool to identify 448 high-anxiety posts.
The analysis revealed that individuals experience the highest anxiety before a confirmed diagnosis, when uncertainty is at its peak. This anxiety focused intensely on physical symptoms, cancer-related risk factors, and interpreting medical information found online.
The study provided a clear timeline of how anxiety shifts as a person moves through the diagnostic process:
These findings carry significant practical implications for clinicians and caregivers. They suggest that early intervention for anxiety—starting when a patient first notices a symptom, even before they first engage with the health care system—is critical. Improving access to reliable, easily digestible educational information, health coaching, and formal peer coping communities could alleviate anxiety by reducing the ambiguity that fuels it. This is especially true for the under-40 age group, who showed particularly high rates of anxiety.
The research team chose to submit their research to JMIR Cancer because the topic was an excellent fit for the journal’s focus on cancer research and digital innovation. They praised the journal’s rigorous peer review process and respected reputation, which ensures their work will have maximum influence among researchers and healthcare professionals seeking to improve patient-centered care.
To learn more about the specific factors that drive anxiety across the breast cancer diagnostic journey, watch the video with Joni Pierce and read the full research article to explore the detailed analysis of social media data. To further explore breast cancer prevention and detection guidelines, please visit the Canadian Cancer Society's official resources.
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