INTRODUCTION
Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent facial flushing, erythema, papules, and pustules. While its precise etiology remains unclear, immunological dysregulation, genetic disposition, and environmental factors have all been proposed as possible causative factors.1 Rosacea has a global incidence of almost 10% and commonly affects women aged 35–50.2 In addition to experiencing symptoms like dryness, burning, and itching on the face, 50% to 75% of patients with rosacea also have ocular involvement.1 Due to the highly visible manifestations of rosacea, the condition has been linked to self-reported feelings of stigmatization, low self-esteem, and social anxiety.3
In an ever-evolving digital world, patients are increasingly utilizing online platforms to seek out medical information, share their stories, and ask healthcare questions.4 This shift has been largely driven by barriers to healthcare access, including delays in getting appointments, insurance coverage restrictions, or scheduling conflicts.5 As a result, online chat groups and forums like Reddit have emerged as a valuable source to analyze patient discourse. With approximately 110 million daily users worldwide, Reddit is structured as a collaborative forum with specific topic-based discussions in the form of subreddits.6 The subreddit r/Rosacea is currently the largest online rosacea forum with over 90,000 members. The forum contains thousands of posts from individuals who discuss their emotional challenges with the disease, highlight their most burdensome symptoms, and debate various medical treatments. Therefore, conducting a cross-sectional analysis of r/Rosacea provides a unique opportunity to more comprehensively understand the concerns of rosacea patients and provides dermatologists with valuable insights that can improve care for rosacea patients.
In an ever-evolving digital world, patients are increasingly utilizing online platforms to seek out medical information, share their stories, and ask healthcare questions.4 This shift has been largely driven by barriers to healthcare access, including delays in getting appointments, insurance coverage restrictions, or scheduling conflicts.5 As a result, online chat groups and forums like Reddit have emerged as a valuable source to analyze patient discourse. With approximately 110 million daily users worldwide, Reddit is structured as a collaborative forum with specific topic-based discussions in the form of subreddits.6 The subreddit r/Rosacea is currently the largest online rosacea forum with over 90,000 members. The forum contains thousands of posts from individuals who discuss their emotional challenges with the disease, highlight their most burdensome symptoms, and debate various medical treatments. Therefore, conducting a cross-sectional analysis of r/Rosacea provides a unique opportunity to more comprehensively understand the concerns of rosacea patients and provides dermatologists with valuable insights that can improve care for rosacea patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
From the r/Rosacea community, 1,000 publicly available posts were accessed and subsequently analyzed on June 16, 2025, by using Python models and libraries in compliance with Reddit's API usage policies. Comments were not accessed. Only posts authored by an identifiable user were included. Image galleries or link-only submissions were excluded. Duplicate posts and those lacking meaningful language (posts composed entirely of emojis, blank characters, or non-English text) were also excluded. Each of the 1,000 posts was then analyzed to assess
