Social Media in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery: What Is #Trending on Instagram?

Abstract

Study objective: Patients share and obtain healthcare-related information on social media platforms. We aim to evaluate the authorship and content of, as well as engagement with, gynecologic topics posted on Instagram.

Design: Qualitative and quantitative retrospective content analysis.

Setting: Instagram.

Patients: Not applicable.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Measurements and main results: A query of endometriosis, adenomyosis, myomas, and hysterectomy yielded 237 hashtags. The top 10 and most recent 20 posts, as determined by Instagram's internal algorithm, were evaluated for 10 hashtags with the most posts. The most popular topic was endometriosis. Of the 300 posts evaluated, 97.3% were by authored by nonhealthcare individuals. The most common content for nonhealthcare authored posts was personal experience (30.67%). Educational content accounted for 4.6% posts and had the greatest average engagement by number of "likes;" 0 educational posts were authored by a healthcare provider.

Conclusion: The majority of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery related Instagram posts are regarding endometriosis, are authored by patients, and discuss personal experience. Official healthcare presence was lacking.

Keywords: Education; Endometriosis; Social media.