Risk messages relating to fertility and pregnancy: a media content analysis.

ABSTRACT: Background: The UK print and online media is an important channel by which scientific research is communicated to the public. Media risk messages relating to pregnancy or fertility contribute to the context of reproductive decision making, but their fidelity to the underlying science has been questioned. Method: We measured the volume, distribution and content of science-based risk headlines relating to pregnancy or fertility in the UK media over four months. We grouped headlines into unique stories and categorised them by exposure and outcome of interest. We selected four unique stories for closer content analysis and assessed their fidelity to the underlying science, with attention to the role of press releases. Results: We identified 171 headlines over four months (

SUBMITTER: Marshall O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8276184 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature