Online social network response to studies on antidepressant use in pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: About 8% of U.S women are prescribed antidepressant medications around the time of pregnancy. Decisions about medication use in pregnancy can be swayed by the opinion of family, friends and online media, sometimes beyond the advice offered by healthcare providers. Exploration of the online social network response to research on antidepressant use in pregnancy could provide insight about how to optimize decision-making in this complex area.

METHODS: For all 17 research articles published on the safety of antidepressant use in pregnancy in 2012, we sought to explore online social network activity regarding antidepressant use in pregnancy, via Twitter, in the 48h after a study was published, compared to the social network activity in the same period 1week prior to each article's publication.

RESULTS: Online social network activity about antidepressants in pregnancy quickly doubled upon study publication. The increased activity was driven by studies demonstrating harm associated with antidepressants, lower-quality studies, and studies where abstracts presented relative versus absolute risks.

IMPLICATIONS: These findings support a call for leadership from medical journals to consider how to best incentivize and support a balanced and clear translation of knowledge around antidepressant safety in pregnancy to their readership and the public.