Systematic review of surveillance by social media platforms for illicit drug use.
The use of social media (SM) as a surveillance tool of global illicit drug use is limited. To address this limitation, a systematic review of literature focused on the ability of SM to better recognize illicit drug use trends was addressed.



A search was conducted in databases: PubMed, CINAHL via Ebsco, PsychINFO via Ebsco, Medline via Ebsco, ERIC, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, ABI/INFORM Complete and Communication and Mass Media Complete. Included studies were original research published in peer-reviewed journals between January 2005 and June 2015 that primarily focused on collecting data from SM platforms to track trends in illicit drug use. Excluded were studies focused on purchasing prescription drugs from illicit online pharmacies.



Selected studies used a range of SM tools/applications, including message boards, Twitter and blog/forums/platform discussions. Limitations included relevance, a lack of standardized surveillance systems and a lack of efficient algorithms to isolate relevant items.



Illicit drug use is a worldwide problem, and the rise of global social networking sites has led to the evolution of a readily accessible surveillance tool. Systematic approaches need to be developed to efficiently extract and analyze illicit drug content from social networks to supplement effective prevention programs.
School of Nursing, College of Health and Human Services,University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., CHHS 444C, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA.
Donna M
DM
Kazemi
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown School of Public Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA.
Brian
B
Borsari
Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA.
Maureen J
MJ
Levine
Center for Wellness Promotion, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA.
Beau
B
Dooley
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D061108:Social Media; D060756:Social Networking; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055815:Young Adult
D013287:Illicit Drugs; C000626790:PR1P peptide; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D055553:Prescription Drugs
illicit drug prevention; social media surveillance; systematic review