Srikajornlarp Saowaluk, Lerksuthirat Tassanee, Patpong Pattama, Ongphiphadhanakul Boonsong, Chattaris Tanchanok
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Research Center, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Mar;21(3):e70042. doi: 10.1002/alz.70042.
Twitter (X) is widely used to reflect individual perspectives. We wished to study social insight regarding dementia using this digital platform.
We conducted a cross-sectional study retrieving tweets containing "dementia" or "#dementia" and their Thai equivalents. English tweets were randomly selected, while all Thai tweets were collected. We identified user types, topics, and sentiments.
Of 10,062 English and 9511 Thai tweets, general users were the most prevalent in both languages. "Dementia" was used accurately in 39.0% of English tweets and as misinformation in 49.2% of Thai tweets. Stigma was significantly more common in English (38.9%) than in Thai (22.6%) tweets (p-value < 0.001), and negative perceptions were expressed in 44.2% and 81.3% of English and Thai tweets, respectively (p-value < 0.001).
Different inappropriate uses of "dementia" were observed. To alleviate negative perceptions, reducing stigmatization is urgently needed in English-speaking communities, whereas in Thailand, appropriate dementia education should be undertaken immediately.
We found differences in the perceptions of "dementia" between English and Thai tweets. Using "dementia" to attack individuals was common among English Twitter (X) users. "Misinformation" regarding the term "dementia" was observed among Thai users.
推特（X）被广泛用于反映个人观点。我们希望利用这个数字平台研究关于痴呆症的社会认知。
我们进行了一项横断面研究，检索包含“dementia”或“#dementia”及其泰语对应词的推文。英文推文随机选取，而所有泰语推文均被收集。我们确定了用户类型、主题和情感倾向。
在10062条英文推文和9511条泰语推文中，普通用户在两种语言中都是最普遍的类型。39.0%的英文推文中“dementia”使用正确，而49.2%的泰语推文中存在错误信息。污名化在英文推文中（38.9%）比在泰语推文中（22.6%）明显更常见（p值<0.001），负面认知分别在44.2%的英文推文和81.3%的泰语推文中有所表达（p值<0.001）。
观察到对“dementia”存在不同的不当使用情况。为减轻负面认知，在英语社区迫切需要减少污名化，而在泰国，应立即开展适当的痴呆症教育。
我们发现英文和泰语推文对“dementia”的认知存在差异。在英文推特（X）用户中，用“dementia”攻击个人的情况很常见。在泰语用户中观察到关于“dementia”一词的错误信息。
