Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42508010›Full record

Observational studyJournal of medical Internet research2026

Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine on X (Formerly Twitter) From 2015 to 2024 Across English, Spanish, and French: Retrospective Observational Study.

Jahinna Duplaix, Sébastien Abad, Marion Bruna, Arnaud Legout, Alexis Nommer, Deborah Nourrit-Lucas, Grégory Ninot

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Journal of medical Internet research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jahinna DuplaixInstitut Desbrest d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, UMR 1318 Université de Montpellier - INSERM, Montpellier, Occitanie, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4533-9758
Sébastien AbadInstitut Desbrest d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, UMR 1318 Université de Montpellier - INSERM, Montpellier, Occitanie, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3610-138X
Marion BrunaInstitut Desbrest d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, UMR 1318 Université de Montpellier - INSERM, Montpellier, Occitanie, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1129-3857
Arnaud LegoutCentre Inria d'Université Côte d'Azur, Valbonne, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4706-424X
Alexis NommerCentre Inria d'Université Côte d'Azur, Valbonne, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5874-5004
Deborah Nourrit-LucasInstitut Desbrest d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, UMR 1318 Université de Montpellier - INSERM, Montpellier, Occitanie, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2125-5753
Grégory NinotInstitut Desbrest d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, UMR 1318 Université de Montpellier - INSERM, Montpellier, Occitanie, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8248-9169

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSocial media platforms have become important spaces for the circulation and discussion of health information. X (formerly Twitter) is one such space where traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM)-related terms circulate in public health discourse. However, longitudinal TCIM-related mention patterns on social media, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic period, remain poorly documented.

objectiveThe study aimed to characterize temporal mention patterns of TCIM-related terms on X across English, Spanish, and French between 2015 and 2024, including the COVID-19 pandemic period.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective observational infodemiology study using raw, nonnormalized annual mention counts from Brandwatch-indexed public X content in English, Spanish, and French that contained 39 predefined TCIM-related terms from 2015 to 2024. Descriptive analyses summarized cumulative mentions and annual mention counts. Exploratory trend analyses were restricted to the 2015 to 2019 prepandemic period. For each term-language combination, ordinary least squares regression was fitted with annual mention count as the dependent variable and calendar year as the independent variable. Exploratory linear trend signals were retained when R

resultsCumulative mentions of the 39 TCIM-related terms totaled 191,994,848 over 2015 to 2024. The most frequently mentioned terms were "yoga" (79,618,183), "meditation" (55,560,372), and "mindfulness" (18,915,377), together accounting for 80.3% (154,093,932/191,994,848) of all mentions. Raw cumulative mentions were predominantly indexed in English (170,100,867/191,994,848, 88.6%) compared with Spanish (17,171,541/191,994,848, 8.9%) and French (4,722,440/191,994,848, 2.5%). Between 2019 and 2020, "meditation" showed the largest absolute increase in raw mention counts (1,935,949/3,627,557, 53.4%), whereas "ayurveda" showed the largest relative increase (400,624/214,901, 186.4%). Exploratory 2015 to 2019 trend analyses identified 14 linear trend signals in English (n=13, 92.9% decreasing; n=1, 7.1% increasing: "intermittent fasting," 161,584/70,496, 229%), 11 in French (n=5, 45.5% increasing), and 8 in Spanish (3 increasing). "Reiki" and "reflexology" decreased in all 3 languages.

conclusionsBetween 2015 and 2024, raw TCIM-related mention counts on X were highly concentrated in a small set of wellness and mind-body labels and were predominantly in English compared with Spanish and French. No sustained aggregate surge was evident in the raw descriptive data during the COVID-19 pandemic period, although some terms such as "ayurveda" showed short-term fluctuations. These findings should be interpreted as platform-specific raw mention patterns, not as evidence of normalized public interest, sentiment, user attitudes, professional practice, or actual TCIM use.

Indexed as

Complementary TherapiesIntegrative MedicineSocial MediaCOVID-19HumansLanguageRetrospective Studieshealth informationinfodemiologyinfoveillancesocial mediasupportive caretraditional, complementary, and integrative medicinetrend analysisTwitterX

Identifiers

PMID42508010
PMCPMC13458356

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.