Evidence mapPaperPMID 40601607Full record

ReviewPloS one2025

GLP-1 receptor agonist for weight loss and fertility: Social media and online perception versus evidence-based medicine.

Zaher Merhi, Manasi Karekar, Marco Mouanness

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Zaher MerhiDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7952-1428
Manasi KarekarReproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Rejuvenating Fertility Center, New York, New York, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6752-1191
Marco MouannessReproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Rejuvenating Fertility Center, New York, New York, United States of America.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist (RA) drugs are commonly used for weight loss among reproductive-aged women but the perception of their impact on fertility is not clear among the public.

objectivesThe purpose of this review was to compare scientific literature to social media discourse and online search pertaining to the potential impact of GLP-1 RAs on female fertility.

methodsGroup 1 included 3 social media platforms, each of which required a different data collection method. For Reddit, VADER (Communalytic ®) was used as a sentiment analyzer and for Twitter and TikTok, we performed a manual search for posts and scored them using an objective internal scale. Group 2 included the online search engine Google Trends. Group 3 consisted of medical literature search by PubMed. All sentiments of posts/comments/articles were graded as: "Positive, Neutral, or Negative" and compared among groups.

resultsIn Groups 1 and 2, scores showed a significantly more Positive than Neutral, and more Neutral than Negative sentiments. In Group 3, among the 52 original studies found on PubMed in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), they all had Positive sentiments. In Groups 1, 2, and 3, there was a strong positive correlation among all sentiments (r2 = 0.83). Even though all 3 social media platforms had the majority of posts with a Positive sentiment and correlated with Google Trends posts and with PubMed studies in women with PCOS (r2 = 0.74), there was a lack of PubMed studies pertaining to the effect of GLP-1 RA in women without PCOS.

conclusionThe Positive sentiments among women without PCOS is not justified by evidence-based medicine and there is a clear need for studies pertaining to this topic.

Indexed as

Evidence-Based MedicineFertilityGlucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor AgonistsSocial MediaWeight LossFemaleHumansPolycystic Ovary SyndromeGlucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists

Identifiers

PMID40601607
PMCPMC12221084

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.