  Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) remains a leading cause of death
in people with epilepsy. Despite the constant risk for patients and bereavement
to family members, to date the physiological mechanisms of SUDEP remain
unknown. Here we explore the potential to identify putative predictive signals
of SUDEP from online digital behavioral data using text and sentiment analysis.
Specifically, we analyze Facebook timelines of six epilepsy patients deceased
due to SUDEP, donated by surviving family members. We find preliminary evidence
for behavioral changes detectable by text and sentiment analysis tools. Namely,
in the months preceding their SUDEP event patient social media timelines show:
i) increase in verbosity; ii) increased use of functional words; and iii)
sentiment shifts as measured by different sentiment analysis tools. Combined,
these results suggest that social media engagement, as well as its sentiment,
may serve as possible early-warning signals for SUDEP in people with epilepsy.
While the small sample of patient timelines analyzed in this study prevents
generalization, our preliminary investigation demonstrates the potential of
social media data as complementary data in larger studies of SUDEP and
epilepsy.
