#MIGS: Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Tag Ontology Project

Abstract

Study objective: The creation of an ontology may enable providers to more definitively engage the public in evidence-based and meaningful discussions about women's health. The goal of this study is to review and analyze the current social media status of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery (MIGS) on Twitter and create a tag ontology.

Design: Tag ontologies are lists of hashtags used to standardize searches within a social media platform. We examined trending terms and influencers on Twitter on the basis of the keyword "MIGS." We then compiled a list of top hashtags on the basis of the number of tweets from January 2018 to August 2020. Terms were identified with manual Twitter queries and Symplur Signals and selected for inclusion in the ontology on the basis of frequency of use and clinical relevance. The ontology was then categorized by pelvic disease and intervention and reviewed/supplemented by key social media influencers for inclusivity.

Setting: N/A PATIENTS: N/A INTERVENTIONS: N/A MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified 4550 tweets and 1836 users while searching #MIGS in August 2020. Twenty-nine terms were included in our ontology, which were then subcategorized into 6 groups (uterine pathology, adnexal pathology, menstruation, pelvic pathology, pelvic pain, and other).

Conclusion: Our study has created an ontology specific to the MIGS on the basis of Twitter usage over the last 2 years that may facilitate more effective social media communication.

Keywords: Gynecology; Hashtag; MIGS; Minimally invasive gynecologic surgery; Ontology; Social media; Twitter.