Mining Psychological Support Needs and Communication Patterns in Chronic Disease Management: A Large-Scale Web Crawling Study

With the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, patients often face long-term psychological distress that is not fully addressed within formal healthcare settings. Online patient communities have become important spaces for sharing illness experiences and seeking psychological support. This study analyzes large-scale user-generated discussions from chronic disease–related online communities to examine patients’ psychological support needs and positive communication practices. Using web crawling and text analysis methods, the study identifies four recurring psychological concerns among patients, including social isolation and unmet support needs, disruptions to daily life and self-identity, symptom-related psychological distress, and frustration with healthcare systems. The analysis further reveals four forms of psychological support perceived as effective, namely symptom management support, medical information support, emotional feedback support, and online interaction support. In addition, the study summarizes supportive language patterns and tonal features associated with positive engagement, including self-disclosure, expressions of gratitude, advice-oriented responses, and professional language. The results provide empirical evidence to inform the design of digital health systems capable of offering psychologically supportive interactions in chronic disease management.