ArticleJMIR infodemiology2024
Changes in Reproductive Health Information-Seeking Behaviors After the Dobbs Decision: Systematic Search of the Wikimedia Database.
Article in JMIR infodemiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Article
- Unwilling to Disclose: Privacy and Pregnancy in Post-Public opinion quarterly · 2026Article
- Intrauterine Devices: Take Up and Discontinuation in a Time of Change.Maternal and child health journal · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAfter the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, confusion followed regarding the legality of abortion in different states across the country. Recent studies found increased Google searches for abortion-related terms in restricted states after the Dobbsv. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision was leaked. As patients and providers use Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation) as a predominant medical information source, we hypothesized that changes in reproductive health information-seeking behavior could be better understood by examining Wikipedia article traffic.
objectiveThis study aimed to examine trends in Wikipedia usage for abortion and contraception information before and after the Dobbs decision.
methodsPage views of abortion- and contraception-related Wikipedia pages were scraped. Temporal changes in page views before and after the Dobbs decision were then analyzed to explore changes in baseline views, differences in views for abortion-related information in states with restrictive abortion laws versus nonrestrictive states, and viewer trends on contraception-related pages.
resultsWikipedia articles related to abortion topics had significantly increased page views following the leaked and final Dobbs decision. There was a 103-fold increase in the page views for the Wikipedia article Roe v. Wade following the Dobbs decision leak (mean 372,654, SD 135,478 vs mean 3614, SD 248; P<.001) and a 67-fold increase in page views following the release of the final Dobbs decision (mean 8942, SD 402 vs mean 595,871, SD 178,649; P<.001). Articles about abortion in the most restrictive states had a greater increase in page views (mean 40.6, SD 12.7; 18/51, 35% states) than articles about abortion in states with some restrictions or protections (mean 26.8, SD 7.3; 24/51, 47% states; P<.001) and in the most protective states (mean 20.6, SD 5.7; 8/51, 16% states; P<.001). Finally, views to pages about common contraceptive methods significantly increased after the Dobbs decision. "Vasectomy" page views increased by 183% (P<.001), "IUD" (intrauterine device) page views increased by 80% (P<.001), "Combined oral contraceptive pill" page views increased by 24% (P<.001), "Emergency Contraception" page views increased by 224% (P<.001), and "Tubal ligation" page views increased by 92% (P<.001).
conclusionsPeople sought information on Wikipedia about abortion and contraception at increased rates after the Dobbs decision. Increased traffic to abortion-related Wikipedia articles correlated to the restrictiveness of state abortion policies. Increased interest in contraception-related pages reflects the increased demand for contraceptives observed after the Dobbs decision. Our work positions Wikipedia as an important source of reproductive health information and demands increased attention to maintain and improve Wikipedia as a reliable source of health information after the Dobbs decision.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.