ArticleJournal of assisted reproduction and genetics2021
The virtual infertility community: a qualitative analysis of patient experiences shared on Instagram.
Article in Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health care experiences of individuals accessing or undergoingFrontiers in reproductive health · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of self-compassion-based programs for infertility (SCPI) on anxiety and depression among women pursuing fertility treatment: a three-armed, randomised controlled trial.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2023Trial
- Fertility care in the age of algorithms: opportunities and risks of AI and social media integration in reproductive medicine.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Review
- #infertility education on Instagram: A Reliability Analysis in Brazil Using the DISCERN Instrument.JBRA assisted reproduction · 2026Article
- Music, imagery, and infertility: a qualitative inquiry into symptoms, treatments, and expressive therapies with infertility clinicians.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Lost in translation: are doctors really answering patients' questions about in vitro fertilization?Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2025Article
- Medical crowdfunding for cancer patients seeking fertility treatments: a cross-sectional analysis.F&S reports · 2025Article
- TikTok as a Resource for Fertility Information and Support: A Patient Survey.Journal of family & reproductive health · 2024Article
- Oocyte cryopreservation on TikTok and Instagram: Who is teaching whom?Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2024Article
- Experiences of Women With Medical Abortion Care Reflected in Social Media (VEILLE Study): Noninterventional Retrospective Exploratory Infodemiology Study.JMIR infodemiology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo characterize the experiences of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) through a qualitative analysis of content shared on Instagram.
methodsWe analyzed Instagram posts from five randomly selected days in February 2020. The hashtag, #ivfcommunity, was selected to identify public posts authored by Instagram's IVF community members from multiple treatment centers. Text, photos, hashtags, and emojis were collected from 452 included posts and entered into a study-specific database. Using thematic coding, a four-member team initially coded the first day in February. Common themes were agreed upon by all team members, and a preliminary codebook was created for further analysis. The remaining posts were coded by two-member teams who reached a consensus on the multiple themes assigned to each individual post.
resultsAnalysis of posts led to the identification of five major themes: documentation of the medical and physical experience of IVF (76.1%), the emotional spectrum (43.1%), social support (49.2%), coping mechanisms (29.9%), and education (receipt, provision) (11.1%).
conclusionOur findings suggest that women undergoing IVF often utilize social media to document daily experiences, offer and recognize sources of community support, and provide and receive education regarding their treatments. Given the increased prevalence of mental health conditions, medical providers should explore challenges discussed on online platforms and consider harnessing the supportive nature of online communities to supplement care for IVF patients.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.