{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T03:03:30Z","timestamp":1779678210967,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,24]],"date-time":"2026-05-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779580800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Inflation, recognized as a social determinant of health (SDOH), significantly affects the daily lives of individuals through the rising costs of food, housing, and other basic needs, all of which are public health concerns. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has become a prominent concern in the U.S. and has been linked to increased stress and poor mental health among adults. While data on inflation is tracked routinely, how it is discussed publicly is understudied. Social media platforms provide insights into how inflation is framed and experienced by the public, and these assessments may be used to determine public health needs and policy advocacy. In this study, we conducted a time-bound, platform-specific case study of inflation-related discourse on X (formerly Twitter). Analysis revealed a predominance of negative sentiments (68.5%) including frustration and distrust. Posts primarily concerned monetary policy\/government spending (31.6%), Federal Reserve interest rates\/financial markets (24.5%), and U.S. presidential politics (12.9%). The users did not explicitly discuss personal-level hardships, and the discussions largely focused on macro-level issues framed in polarized political perspectives. These patterns matter for public health because institutional trust shapes support for social and health policies. Our study findings suggest a fragmented social environment that may exacerbate community-wide anxiety and challenge health promotion efforts and the need for public health surveillance through surveys or personal interviews to identify and address the psychological burden of inflation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph23060694","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T02:32:28Z","timestamp":1779676348000},"page":"694","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploring Inflation-Related Public Discourse Relevant to Social Determinants of Health Using Social Media Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Yifan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacotherapy, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nethra","family":"Sambamoorthi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacotherapy, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0371-6699","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"R. Constance","family":"Wiener","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dental Public Health and Professional Practice, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5105-0951","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emergency Medicine, JPS Health Network, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5680-3134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chan","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7283-6630","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sophie","family":"Mitra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Economics, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6924-8248","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patricia A.","family":"Findley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60611, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8311-1360","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Usha","family":"Sambamoorthi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacotherapy, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mitra, S., Shen, C., Pinnamraju, J., Wiener, R.C., Wang, H., Pathak, M., Findley, P.A., and Sambamoorthi, U. 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