Exploring Public Perceptions and Experiences of Hypertension Through Social Media: Insights from Twitter/X and Reddit

Background Hypertension a prominent cardiovascular condition with significant burden on healthcare around the globe. Literary research methods often unwillingly ignore real-world patient experiences and emotional responses. Social media platforms, such as Twitter/X and Reddit, offer a unique and realistic opportunity to study patient perceptions and behavior regarding hypertension in a more naturalistic and unbiased setting. Methods Posts which were publicly available were collected from Twitter/X and Reddit subreddits(n = 1 070) which primarily focused on hypertension. Posts were cleaned, anonymized, and analyzed for keyword mentions (“ high BP ,” “ hypertension ,” “ blood pressure ,” “ medication ”) and sentiment (Positive, Neutral, Negative) using Python and TextBlob. Descriptive statistics, including sentiment and keyword frequency, were generated. Results The data (n = 1 070 posts) included 46.7% Neutral, 34.6% Positive, and 18.7% Negative posts. Keyword analysis showed “ hypertension ” (1 570 mentions) as the most common, followed by “ blood pressure ” (630), “ medication ” (260), and “ high BP ” (140). Positive posts mostly were focused on describing lifestyle interventions or successfully controlled blood pressure, while Negative posts majorly highlighted anxiety, side effects, or frequent BP spikes. Conclusions Social media provides an insightful lens into real-world experiences of individuals with hypertension, capturing both factual and emotional dimensions. Publicly available dataset on social media allow for more robust analysis, and these insights can inform public health strategies, patient education, and clinical awareness. Social media may serve as a companion tool to researchers and physicians, offering timely, patient-centered perspectives.