title: Opportunities for Exploring and Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse Through Social Media.
abstract: The rising toll of opioid overdoses in the past decade has been declared a prescription drug epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control. In that same period, Internet platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, have grown exponentially, being used primarily by a population similar to new initiates of substance abuse. Researchers have utilized social media to gain insights into use patterns and prevailing attitudes about various substances. Social media has potential to enhance screening, prevention, and treatment of addiction. With future funding, they should be leveraged to advance understanding of prescription drug use and improve treatment and prevention of abuse.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Emergency Medicine , Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , Philadephia , Pennsylvania , USA.
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Lewis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meisel
authors.forename: Jeanmarie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perrone
mesh_terms: D057225:Data Mining; D006801:Humans; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D061108:Social Media; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Prescription drug abuse; opioid abuse; social media; social networking