Does Social Media Use Associate with Vasomotor, Sexual, and Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors Receiving Endocrine Therapy?

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Purpose: Vasomotor, sexual, and musculoskeletal symptoms are common adverse effects of adjuvant endocrine therapy in breast cancer survivors. Social media use has not been investigated with altered symptom perception in patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy. This study aimed to investigate whether social media use or addiction independently predicts endocrine therapy-related symptom burden in breast cancer survivors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 153 breast cancer survivors receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy. The Social Media Use Scale (SMUS) and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) were assessed using validated Turkish versions of each scale. Endocrine therapy-related toxicities (specifically hot flashes, vaginal dryness, loss of libido, and musculoskeletal pain severity) were evaluated using specific self-reported 5-point Likert scale items. Results: All of the patients were female and menopausal, either neutral or induced with ovarian function suppression. In the univariate analysis, the BSMAS score showed a weak positive correlation with vasomotor/sexual symptoms (r = 0.194; p = 0.017), but this association disappeared after adjustment for clinical variables. Younger age was associated with greater vasomotor/sexual symptoms in univariate testing. Neither the SMUS nor BSMAS independently predicted musculoskeletal symptom severity in univariate and multivariate models, while higher educational attainment remained the only independent predictor of musculoskeletal pain severity (OR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.06–3.57; p = 0.031). Conclusions: This study is unique in investigating unstructured social media use and endocrine therapy-related physical symptoms. In this cohort, unstructured social media use was not associated with the endocrine therapy-related physical symptom burden. While these cross-sectional findings do not support social media behavior as a significant predictor, clinical assessments should continue to prioritize established determinants such as age and educational background.

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