Doctors’ attitudes toward specific medical conditions

This study uses machine learning and natural language processing tools to examine the used by healthcare professionals on a global online forum. It contributes an underdeveloped area of knowledge, that physician attitudes toward their patients. Using comments left physicians Reddit’s ”Medicine” subreddit (r/medicine), we test if from discussions can reveal doctors’ specific medical conditions. We focus set chronic conditions usually are more stigmatized compare them ones well accepted community. discovered when comparing diseases with similar traits, doctors discussed some negative attitudes. These results show bias does not occur only along dimensions traditionally analyzed in economics literature gender race, but also dimension disease type. is meaningful because emotions associated beliefs impact physicians’ decision making, prescribing behavior, quality care. First, run binomial LASSO-logistic regression range 21 against myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), depression, autoimmune multiple sclerosis rheumatoid arthritis. Next, use dictionary methods five diseases: Lyme disease, Ehlers-Danlos (EDS), Alzheimer’s osteoporosis, lupus. The discuss ME/CFS, than other set. for ME/CFS included over four times words depression.