ArticleJMIR AI2025
Insights on the Side Effects of Female Contraceptive Products From Online Drug Reviews: Natural Language Processing-Based Content Analysis.
Article in JMIR AI, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundMost online and social media discussions about birth control methods for women center on side effects, highlighting a demand for shared experiences with these products. Online user reviews and ratings of birth control products offer a largely untapped supplementary resource that could assist women and their partners in making informed contraception choices.
objectiveThis study sought to analyze women's online ratings and reviews of various birth control methods, focusing on side effects linked to low product ratings.
methodsUsing natural language processing (NLP) for topic modeling and descriptive statistics, this study analyzes 19,506 unique reviews of female contraceptive products posted on the website Drugs.com.
resultsRatings vary widely across contraception types. Hormonal contraceptives with high systemic absorption, such as progestin-only pills and extended-cycle pills, received more unfavorable reviews than other methods and women frequently described menstrual irregularities, continuous bleeding, and weight gain associated with their administration. Intrauterine devices were generally rated more positively, although about 1 in 10 users reported severe cramps and pain, which were linked to very poor ratings.
conclusionsWhile exploratory, this study highlights the potential of NLP in analyzing extensive online reviews to reveal insights into women's experiences with contraceptives and the impact of side effects on their overall well-being. In addition to results from clinical studies, NLP-derived insights from online reviews can provide complementary information for women and health care providers, despite possible biases in online reviews. The findings suggest a need for further research to validate links between specific side effects, contraceptive methods, and women's overall well-being.
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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.