ArticleJMIR formative research2021
Peer-to-Peer Social Media Communication About Dietary Supplements Used for Weight Loss and Sports Performance Among Military Personnel: Pilot Content Analysis of 11 Years of Posts on Reddit.
Article in JMIR formative research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alignment of Lived Experience Questions with the Medical Literature in Bipolar Disorder: A Topic Modelling Approach: Adéquation entre les questions relatives à l'expérience vécue et la littérature médicale concernant le trouble bipolaire : Une approche de modélisation de sujets.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Article
- Pharmacovigilance in the digital age: gaining insight from social media data.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2025Review
- Effect of Social Media on Diet, Lifestyle, and Performance of Athletes: A Review of Current Evidence.Current nutrition reports · 2024Review
- Label Accuracy of Weight Loss Dietary Supplements Marketed Online With Military Discounts.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Have safety and efficacy assessments of bioactives come of age?Molecular aspects of medicine · 2023Review
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 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOver 60% of military personnel in the United States currently use dietary supplements. Two types of dietary supplements, weight loss and sports performance (WLSP) supplements, are commonly used by military personnel despite the associated serious adverse effects such as dehydration and stroke.
objectiveTo understand peer-to-peer communication about WLSP supplements among military personnel, we conducted a pilot study using the social media website, Reddit.
methodsA total of 64 relevant posts and 243 comments from 2009 to 2019 were collected from 6 military subreddits. The posts were coded for year of posting, subreddit, and content consistent with the following themes: resources about supplement safety and regulation, discernability of supplement use through drug testing, serious adverse effects, brand names or identifiers, and reasons for supplement use.
resultsA primary concern posted by personnel who used supplements was uncertainty about the supplements that were not detectable on a drug test. Supplements to improve workout performance were the most frequently used.
conclusionsOur pilot study suggests that military personnel may seek out peer advice about WLSP supplements on Reddit and spread misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of these products through this platform. Future directions for the monitoring of WLSP supplement use in military personnel are discussed.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.