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.
There were two key events, between the 1st November and 18th December, which caused spikes in the UK respiratory conversation online – World COPD Day on 20th November and British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter Meeting from 4th – 6th December.
World COPD day
UK HCPs used Twitter as a platform to celebrate World COPD day using the hashtag #WorldCOPDday, whilst also raising awareness of COPD. Alexander Mathioudakis (@MathioudakisAG), a UK specialty trainee in respiratory medicine posted one such tweet, educating readers on the prevalence of the disease and calling for increased research funding.
Over 250 million people are affected, more than 3 million die every year from #COPD #AECOPD. Only around 2% of the medical research funding is allocated to respiratory diseases (including COPD, asthma and other respiratory problems). This needs to #change. #WorldCOPDDay 2019.
— MathioudakisAG (@MathioudakisAG) November 20, 2019
The most frequently shared post by UK HCPs on World COPD Day was originally authored by Nick Hopkinson (@COPDdoc), a UK consultant chest physician, and was shared by 13 UK HCPs. He shared an image of the value pyramid of COPD interventions, detailing the cost of each intervention per quality adjusted life year. Even though the article was originally published in 2014, the level of HCP engagement indicates that doctors are interested in data on effective interventions.
The pyramid of value for COPD interventions #WorldCOPDday https://t.co/5rDndEt4bN @ThoraxBMJ @LondonLungs pic.twitter.com/UnijOG5LxH
— Dr Nick Hopkinson (@COPDdoc) November 20, 2019
BTS Winter Meeting
UK HCPs also created and engaged with content on Twitter during the BTS Winter Meeting using the hashtag #BTSwinter2019, with conversation around many different aspects of respiratory care. Jonathan Bennett (@BTSchair), a UK consultant respiratory & general medicine physician and chair of the British Thoracic Society, whose post was shared by 24 UK HCPs, stated the importance of lung specialist roles in patient care, highlighting a critical shortage of these professionals.
https://twitter.com/BTSchair/status/1202603440565866498
Another point of HCP discussion on Twitter during BTS was the cost of respiratory services, both to the NHS, estimated at over £11 billion each year, and to patients. Laura Graham (@goldens2482), a UK respiratory physiotherapist, strongly proposes that asthma prescriptions should be free of charge, as these can be unaffordable for many patients.
Very imp point in the Respiratory Futures Session “we need to reduce or stop prescription charges for patients with asthma” currently for many the choice can be between controlled disease or eating/heating a home. This has to change #BTSWinter2019 #reducinghealthinequalities
— Laura Graham 💙 (She/Her) (@goldens2482) December 5, 2019
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 November 1 – December 18 2019, using CREATION Pinpoint®.
- Between November 1 – December 18 2019, there were 5,845 UK HCP mentions of respiratory disease and related terms, from 2,103 unique UK HCP authors.
