RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Evaluation of language analysis to summarize the literature: a comparison to traditional meta-analysis in primary hip and knee surgery
JF Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine
JO Reg Anesth Pain Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 151
OP 154
DO 10.1136/rapm-2021-103261
VO 47
IS 3
A1 Joshua Myszewski
A1 Emily Klossowski
A1 Kristopher M Schroeder
YR 2022
UL http://rapm.bmj.com/content/47/3/151.abstract
AB Introduction Sentiment analysis, by evaluating written wording and its context, is a growing tool used in computer science that can determine the level of support expressed in a body of text using artificial intelligence methodologies. The application of sentiment analysis to biomedical literature is a growing field and offers the potential to rapidly and economically explore large amounts of published research and characterize treatment efficacy.Methods We compared the results of sentiment analysis of 115 article abstracts analyzed in a recently published meta-analysis of peripheral nerve block usage in primary hip and knee arthroplasty to the conclusions drawn by the authors of the original meta-analysis.Results A moderately positive outlook supporting the utilization of regional anesthesia for hip and knee arthroplasty was found in the 115 articles that were included for analysis, with 46% expressing positive sentiment, 35% expressing neutral sentiment, and 19% of abstracts expressing negative sentiment. This was well aligned with the conclusions reached by a previous meta-analysis of the same articles.Discussion Sentiment analysis applied to the medical literature can rapidly evaluate large collections of published data and generate an impression of overall findings that are aligned with the findings of a traditional meta-analysis.