Tanning bed burns reported on twitter: over 15,000 in 2013
Seidenberg, Andrew B. Pagoto, Sherry L. Vickey, Theodore A. Linos, Eleni Wehner, Mackenzie R. Costa, Renata Dalla Geller, Alan C.
Seidenberg, Andrew B.
Pagoto, Sherry L.
Vickey, Theodore A.
Linos, Eleni
Wehner, Mackenzie R.
Costa, Renata Dalla
Geller, Alan C.
Repository DOI
Publication Date
2016-02-18
Type
Article
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Citation
Seidenberg, Andrew B. Pagoto, Sherry L.; Vickey, Theodore A.; Linos, Eleni; Wehner, Mackenzie R.; Costa, Renata Dalla; Geller, Alan C. (2016). Tanning bed burns reported on twitter: over 15,000 in 2013. Translational Behavioral Medicine 6 (2), 271-276
Abstract
Few surveillance tools exist for monitoring tanning bed injuries. Twitter data were examined to identify and describe reports of tanning bed-caused burns. Tweets sent in 2013 containing keywords for tanning bed use and burning were content analyzed to determine whether a burn caused by a tanning bed was described, and additional data on tanning behavior and burn characteristics were extracted. After content assessment, 15,178 (64 %) tweets were found to describe a tanning bed-caused burn. Sites most reportedly burnt were buttocks (n= 3117), face/head (n= 1020), and chest/breast (n= 546). Alarmingly, 200 burns to the eyes/eyelids were mentioned. A total of 456 tweets described burning >1 time from a tanning bed. A total of 211 tweets mentioned falling asleep inside the tanning bed. In 2013, over 15,000 tweets reported tanning bed-caused burns. Twitter data provides unique insight into tanning behaviors and injuries not captured through traditional public health surveillance.
Funder
Publisher
Springer Nature
Publisher DOI
10.1007/s13142-016-0388-6
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland