Social Perceptions and Usage Patterns of Urinary Diaries: A 10-Year Online Community Analysis.

PURPOSE: This study analyzes long-term changes in social perceptions and usage patterns of voiding diaries and identifies their structural characteristics. Although voiding diaries are essential instruments for evaluating lower urinary tract symptoms, their use is often limited by inconvenience and poor compliance. To clarify these issues, this research examines a decade of online community discussions to trace shifts in public perception.

METHODS

Data were collected from Korean online communities between September 2015 and August 2025. Using text mining techniques, the dataset was extracted with keywords such as "urination diary," "urination log," "bladder diary," and "bladder log." To capture key terms, word associations, and temporal changes in discussion, the analysis incorporated time-series analysis, 2-gram analysis, and term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) analysis.

RESULTS

Mentions of voiding diaries increased markedly after 2019 and then stabilized, indicating sustained public interest. The 2-gram analysis revealed 4 categories related to recording behavior, clinical evaluation, daily life management, and disease terminology. TF-IDF analysis identified examination, treatment, recording, management, and bladder as central terms, highlighting the diary's dual relevance in both clinical and everyday contexts.

CONCLUSION

Voiding diaries function not only as clinical tools but also as social instruments for managing daily life. Increasing user persistence requires digital healthcare strategies such as automated reminders, data visualization, and gamification to strengthen continuity between clinical care and personal management.