Abstract
Introduction and context: Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system defined as the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. It is a disease that affects 8-12% of couples globally, with female and male factors contributing equally. Modifiable lifestyle factors such as high or low BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking cigarettes and recreational drug use all negatively affect a couple's fertility. These factors can be altered to improve fertility both naturally and through a reduction in the risk of fertility treatment failure. Infertility is a cause of significant stress for couples, and for those diagnosed an integral part of coping with infertility is seeking information and social support, which is often done through social media. This project aimed to explore the accuracy and credibility of information available on social media about lifestyle factors and their effect on fertility.
Methodology and methods: A mixed methods approach was used to conduct this research project. Posts were collected from Instagram and analysed using a summative content analysis. Quantitative frequency counts were conducted to summarise the characteristics of the posts and a qualitative analysis was conducted to assess the accuracy of the included posts. Further analysis found main messages for each of the lifestyle factors that were explored.
Conclusion: The results of this research project concluded that there are inaccuracies present in the fertility webspace, when looking at information on the effect of lifestyle factors on fertility. In addition, the source credibility of the included posts differs between author types. Finally, the findings of this research project offer an insight into the messages that these posts generate for each of the investigated lifestyle factors.