Achilles Tendon Surgery From The Perspective Of Patients: an Instagram Study

Abstract

Aim: The use of social media, especially Instagram, has become widespread in the medical field. The aim of this study was to evaluate Achilles tendon surgery from patients' perspectives by examining public posts on Instagram. Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis was made of the Instagram posts of patients with the hashtags #achillestendonsurgery and #achillestendonrepair between December 2018 and October 2021. In total, 234 posts (181 photographs, 53 videos) were evaluated and compared in terms of gender, sharing format (video, photo), sharing tone (negative, positive, neutral), content (activities of daily living, rehabilitation, cast/brace, hospital room, surgical site), country and popularity (the number of views for videos, the number of likes for photographs). Results: Posts in video format and a positive tone, posts on the rehabilitation process, and posts about male patients were found to have higher numbers of likes and views than other posts. The content of the shares were respectively; activity of daily living 36.8%(n=86), physical therapy 29.9%(n=70), cast/brace 20.1%(n=47), surgical site 7.7%(n=18), and hospital room 5.6%(n=13). The media tone of the posts was 40.2%(n=94) positive, 6.4%(n=15) negative, and 53.4%(n=125) neutral. Conclusions: Patients avoided making negative posts on their Instagram after Achilles tendon surgery, and often shared experiences of postoperative rehabilitation processes and daily living activities.