{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,27]],"date-time":"2026-06-27T23:46:07Z","timestamp":1782603967376,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]],"date-time":"2025-02-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740700800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Reprod. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>There is an increasing tendency to seek health information online rather than through medical professionals. However, the easy accessibility of information online allows for an increased risk of encountering medical misinformation.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We compared descriptions of symptomatology of bacterial vaginosis (BV) on four social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X (Twitter). We then compared the frequency of discussion of symptoms with patients' report of symptoms in clinically diagnosed BV, vulvovaginal candidiasis and vulvodynia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Social media was more likely to report burning (45% of posts), itching (45%) or pain (23%) as symptoms of BV than patients (moderate-severe itching 30%, burning 21% or pain 21%). Although pain was reported more often by people with vulvodynia, other symptoms were not different across diagnoses.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Social media overemphasizes the ability of symptoms to allow self-diagnosis of vaginitis, which can lead to delayed treatment, highlighting the need to promote accurate health information online.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frph.2025.1549331","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]],"date-time":"2025-02-28T06:58:32Z","timestamp":1740725912000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Comparison of bacterial vaginosis symptoms reported in social media vs. those reported by patients"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Andriana H.","family":"Velmahos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Briah","family":"Cooley Demidkina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline M.","family":"Mitchell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"864","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0b013e318074e565","article-title":"The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in the United States, 2001\u20132004; associations with symptoms, sexual behaviors, and reproductive health","volume":"34","author":"Koumans","year":"2007","journal-title":"Sex Transm Dis"},{"key":"B2","article-title":"About bacterial vaginosis (BV). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention","year":"2023"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1368","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.291.11.1368","article-title":"Evaluation of vaginal complaints","volume":"291","author":"Anderson","year":"2004","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1016\/s0029-7844(01)01759-8","article-title":"Over-the-counter antifungal drug misuse associated with patient-diagnosed vulvovaginal candidiasis","volume":"99","author":"Ferris","year":"2002","journal-title":"Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0151794","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0151794","article-title":"Women\u2019s management of recurrent bacterial vaginosis and experiences of clinical care: a qualitative study","volume":"11","author":"Bilardi","year":"2016","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"544","DOI":"10.2471\/BLT.21.287654","article-title":"Infodemics and health misinformation: a systematic review of reviews","volume":"100","author":"Borges do Nascimento","year":"2022","journal-title":"Bull World Health Organ"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0000000000001143","article-title":"Vaginal microbiota and mucosal immune markers in women with vulvovaginal discomfort","volume":"47","author":"Mitchell","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sex Transm Dis"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1476","DOI":"10.1080\/21645515.2018.1560774","article-title":"A content analysis of HPV-related posts on Instagram","volume":"15","author":"Basch","year":"2019","journal-title":"Hum Vaccin Immunother"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e43596","DOI":"10.2196\/43596","article-title":"Characterizing twitter content about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for women: qualitative content analysis","volume":"25","author":"Keddem","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1538","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa260","article-title":"Diagnosis and treatment of vaginal discharge syndromes in community practice settings","volume":"72","author":"Hillier","year":"2021","journal-title":"Clin Infect Dis"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/s0002-9378(99)70433-3","article-title":"The infrequent use of office-based diagnostic tests for vaginitis","volume":"181","author":"Wiesenfeld","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am J Obstet Gynecol"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Reproductive Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frph.2025.1549331\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]],"date-time":"2025-02-28T06:58:34Z","timestamp":1740725914000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frph.2025.1549331\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]]},"references-count":11,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/frph.2025.1549331"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/frph.2025.1549331","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-3153"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-3153","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,28]]},"article-number":"1549331"}}