ArticleCureus2023
Analyzing Instagram Posts on Hypothyroidism: Characteristics, Information Types, Quality, and Reliability.
Article in Cureus, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- ARE POSTS ABOUT TRIGGER FINGER ON THE SOCIAL NETWORKActa ortopedica brasileira · 2026Article
- EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY OF INFORMATION ON ADHESIVE CAPSULITIS (FROZEN SHOULDER) ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM INSTAGRAM.Acta ortopedica brasileira · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and aims In the age of social media, a vast amount of information is widely and easily accessible. Platforms such as Instagram allow its users to post pictures and videos that can reach millions of users. This could be utilized by healthcare providers to provide education to a vast number of the population about a disease such as hypothyroidism with an easily digestible infographic. However, this easy accessibility comes with the risk of rampant misinformation. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of Instagram posts, the type of information, and the quality and reliability of information posted about hypothyroidism. Methodology This is a cross-sectional observational study that was conducted over the course of days on Instagram. Top posts meeting inclusion criteria under seven different hypothyroidism-related hashtags were surveyed for content and social media metrics by the authors utilizing Google Forms. The quality and reliability of the posts were analyzed using the global quality scale and DISCERN scales, respectively. The data were exported to an Excel sheet and analyzed using the SPSS software version 21.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). Results A total of 629 posts met the inclusion criteria of which 62.5% were images and 37.5% were reels. The content heavily focused on the medical aspect of hypothyroidism with posts about symptoms (46.1%), prevention (39.59%), cause/etiology (36.41%), and treatment (34.34%). The median DISCERN score which reflects the reliability of the posts uploaded was highest for doctors at 3 and the least reliable posts were uploaded by dieticians, naturopathic doctors, and patients. This study found that the quality of posts uploaded by nutritionists and naturopathic doctors with a median Global Quality Score (GQS) score of 3. Conclusions There is a need to establish a quality control body that regulates the quality and reliability of the posts to curb misinformation and help patients gain easy access to reliable resources that will aid their decision-making.
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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.