Abstract
Objectives
The purpose of this observational study was to investigate and analyze the nature of the shared content of lower extremity total joint arthroplasty (TJA) patients on Instagram. Specifically, we evaluated: 1) perspective and timing of the social media posts (pre-, peri-, or post-operative); 2) tone of the post (positive or negative); 3) focus of the post (including activities of daily living (ADLs), rehabilitation, return-to-work (RTW)); and 4) compare these findings between hip and knee arthroplasties.
Methods
A search of the public Instagram domain was performed over a 6 month period. Total hip and knee arthroplasty were selected for the analysis using the following terms: “#totalhipreplacement,” “#totalkneereplacement,” and associated terms. A total of 1,287 individual public posts of human subjects were shared during the period. A categorical scoring system was manually applied for media format (photo or video), time (pre-, peri- or post-operative) period, tone (positive or negative), RTW reference, ADLs reference, rehabilitation reference, surgical site reference, radiograph image, satisfaction and dissatisfaction references. The post perspective was recorded.
Results
91% of the posts by patients were shared during the post-operative period. 93% of posts had a positive tone to them.34% of posts focused on both ADLs and 33.8% rehabilitation. TKA patients shared more about their surgical site (14.5% vs. 3.3%, p < .001) and rehabilitation (58.9% vs. 8.8%, p < .001) than THA patients, whereas THA patients shared more about their ADLs than TKA patients (60.5% vs. 7.6%, p < .001).
Conclusions
When sharing their experience on Instagram, arthroplasty patients did so with a positive tone, starting a week after surgery. TKA posts focused more on rehabilitation and wound healing than THA patients, while THA patients shared more posts on ADLs. The analysis of social media posts provides insight into what matters to patients following TJA.
