Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jul;35(7):1259-1263.
doi: 10.1007/s10815-018-1189-2. Epub 2018 May 15.

Social media in the REI clinic: what do patients want?

Darcy E Broughton  1 , Allison Schelble  2 , Kristina Cipolla  2 , Michele Cho  3 , Jason Franasiak  4 , Kenan R Omurtag  2
Affiliations

Social media in the REI clinic: what do patients want?

Darcy E Broughton et al. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: To elicit patient preferences for social media utilization and content in the infertility clinic.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study conducted in three US fertility practices. Women presenting to the infertility clinic for an initial or return visit were offered an anonymous voluntary social media survey. The survey elicited patient perception of whether social media use in the infertility clinic is beneficial, and preferences regarding topics of interest.

Results: A total of 244 surveys were collected during the study period, of which 54.5% were complete. Instagram is a more popular platform than Twitter across all age groups. Use of both platforms varies by age, with patients ≥ 40 less likely to be active users. The majority of respondents felt that social media provided benefit to the patient experience in the infertility clinic (79.9%). "Education regarding infertility testing and treatment" and "Myths and Facts about infertility" were the most popular topics for potential posts, with 93.4 and 92.0% of patients endorsing interest respectively. The least popular topic was "Newborn photos and birth announcements," with only 47.4% endorsing interest. A little over half of respondents (56.3%) would feel comfortable with the clinic posting a picture of their infant. The vast majority of patients (96.2%) feel comfortable communicating electronically with their infertility clinic.

Conclusion: Patients are interested in the use of social media as a forum for patient education and support in the infertility clinic. Patient preferences regarding post topics should be carefully considered.

Keywords: In vitro fertilization; Infertility; Internet; Patient outreach; Social media.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Social media use in infertility patients. a Distribution of Instagram and Twitter users, stratified by age. b Average number of scrolls through Facebook timeline daily
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Most famous social network sites worldwide as of August 2017, ranked by number of active users. . 2017. https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked.... Accessed 30 Aug 2017.
    1. Center PR. Social media update 2016 2016 http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/. Accessed 30 Aug 2017.
    1. Stewart JB. Facebook has 50 minutes of your time each day. It wants more. New York Times, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/business/facebook-bends-the-rules-of-.... Accessed 28 Aug 2017.
    1. Hammarberg K, Zosel R, Comoy C, Robertson S, Holden C, Deeks M, Johnson L. Fertility-related knowledge and information-seeking behaviour among people of reproductive age: a qualitative study. Hum Fertil (Camb) 2017;20(2):88–95. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2016.1245447. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Franasiak JM, Ku LT, Barnhart KT, Online N, Communications C Curbside consultations in the era of social media connectivity and the creation of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Forum. Fertil Steril. 2016;105(4):885–886. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.02.007. - DOI - PubMed