By Laura Marsh 
Each month, CREATION.co’s respiratory tracking update will bring you the latest insights into the online UK healthcare professional (HCP) conversation regarding respiratory disease.
Between 19th December 2019 and 21st January 2020, we saw that UK HCPs were consistently choosing to engage on Twitter with Asthma UK (@asthmauk). The graph below shows that the pattern of UK HCP conversation mentioning Asthma UK largely mirrors that of the overall conversation.
Asthma UK describes itself as a charity working to cure asthma by funding research, campaigning for improved care and providing expert advice and support.
UK HCPs engaged with the organisation’s Twitter account in 2 key ways: mentioning @asthmauk in their own posts (92 times), and sharing content originally from @asthmauk (83 times).
When retweeting @asthmauk, the top topics engaged with by UK HCPs were:
1. Triggers and symptoms of asthma attacks (shared by 24 UK HCPs)
Someone is having an asthma attack if they are coughing, wheezing, are breathless or have a tight chest that is so bad they can’t speak, eat or sleep, or if their reliever inhaler isn’t lasting for a full four hours. #wednesdaywisdom
— Asthma + Lung UK (@asthmalunguk) January 8, 2020
2. Improving inhaler technique (shared by 15 UK HCPs)
Different inhalers need to be taken in different ways so it can be hard for people with asthma to know if they are using them correctly. Our videos can help improve technique in minutes. https://t.co/x2XJOXmvIT
— Asthma + Lung UK (@asthmalunguk) January 6, 2020
3. Chest infections (shared by 5 UK HCPs)
Symptoms for asthma and chest infections can feel similar so it can be hard to tell the difference. We've got advice on this: https://t.co/v4tN91xrxg pic.twitter.com/YqTWc0Sqdq
— Asthma + Lung UK (@asthmalunguk) January 17, 2020
When mentioning @asthmauk, the UK HCP discussion focused on paediatric asthma care. A number of HCPs including Will Carroll (@heretolearnkids), a paediatric respiratory physician, called for better practice in schools to prevent asthma deaths in children.
Just in time for Christmas. A cautionary note for #paediatrics #asthmainschools. We should be doing better. @bigcatdoc @DrNickTwit @TweedieChap @asthmauk @AsthmaIreland @Breathe_to_win @Damian_Roland @apsmunro @ianlewins @ADC_BMJ @ian_wac @KeeleUniversity https://t.co/9Xbrc3kC3i
— Will Carroll (@heretolearnkids) December 24, 2019
In a thread started by Katie Knight (@_katieknight_), a paediatric emergency medicine consultant, UK HCPs reacted negatively to a Clean Air in London campaign which portrayed a child using an inhaler without a spacer. Chinedu Nwokoro (@childchestdoc), a consultant paediatrician, also emphasised the importance of correct messaging in the media, saying “What we normalise has an effect!”
Really disappointing to see @MayorofLondon Clean Air campaign featuring a child NOT using a spacer with their inhaler.
ALL children with #asthma MUST use spacers for their inhaler to work properly #everytime #asthmakills@CleanAirLondon @asthmauk @cleanairdayuk @SadiqKhan pic.twitter.com/Rmys5HrrCf
— Katie Knight (@_katieknight_) January 20, 2020
Each month, we are tracking the HCP conversation relating to respiratory disease. You can keep up to date with this and other pharmaceutical tracking updates, including drug approvals within the Tracking section of CREATION Knowledge, or sign up to receive our monthly eJournal with all of our latest HCP insights.
READ LAST MONTH’S RESPIRATORY TRACKER
Methodology
- This article analysed the Twitter conversations of HCPs in the UK, discussing respiratory disease and related terms between December 19 2019 – January 21 2020, using CREATION Pinpoint®.
- Between December 19 2019 – January 21 2020 there were 2,528 UK HCP mentions of respiratory disease and related terms, from 1,292 unique UK HCP authors.
