#infertility education on Instagram: A Reliability Analysis in Brazil Using the DISCERN Instrument

To assess the prevalence, authorship, and reliability of educational fertility-related information shared on Brazilian Instagram, measured by the DISCERN instrument.

This cross-sectional study analyzed public fertility-related educational Instagram posts published in March 2021 related to the following hashtags: #infertility, #ivf, #endometriosis, #tryingtoconceive, #maternity, #humanreproduction, #pregnancy, #invitrofertilization, #assistedreproduction, #pregnant, #difficulttogetpregnant. Educational posts were evaluated using the DISCERN tool. Authorship was categorized as either healthcare professional (HCP) or layperson (LP).

The majority of the 37 analyzed posts were authored by HCP (n = 33; 89.2%), with 24 of these being physicians, five fertility clinics, four allied HCP, one magazine, and three LP. Most posts (n = 15) focused on fertility treatments; other topics included information about diseases, exams, and diagnosis. The mean Discern analysis scores for each question were: (1) Are the aims clear? 4.86; (2) Does it achieve its aims? 4.75; (3) Is it relevant? 4.47; (4) Is it clear what sources of information were used to compile the publication (other than the author or producer)? 1.58; (5) Is it clear when the information used or reported in the publication was produced? 1.59; (6) Is it balanced and unbiased? 1.59; (7) Does it provide details of additional sources of support and information? 1.04; (8) Does it refer to areas of uncertainty? 1.39.

Although physicians authored most posts that clearly stated the aim and relevance, important issues such as the source of information used and details about additional sources of support and information were not available. The posts analyzed here failed to be balanced and unbiased and did not inform about potential areas of uncertainty.