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Cited by 30Ovarian function and disordersMedia Influence and HealthHealth Literacy and Information Accessibility

“Less Than A Wife”: A Study of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Content in Teen and Women’s Digital Magazines

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Sanchez, Ninive, Jones, Hillary·2016·Journal of Medical Internet Research
DOI 10.2196/jmir.5417PMC PMC4911514
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a major public health problem that affects women's physical and mental health. According to the US National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention, there is a need to improve public awareness of the syndrome among health care providers and the public. Women's magazines are a type of "edutainment" that publish health content in addition to beauty, fashion, and entertainment content. These media have the potential to expose primarily female readers to content on PCOS and influence readers' beliefs and attitudes about women with PCOS. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore how digital (online) teen and women's magazines portray women with PCOS. METHODS: We used data from the Alliance for Audited Media to identify popular digital teen and women's magazines with circulation rates ≥1,000,001. We also included magazines with circulation rates 100,001-1,000,000 directed toward racial and ethnic minority readers. A search of magazine websites over a 1-month period in 2015 yielded 21 magazines (eg, Glamour, Cosmopolitan en Español, Essence, and O, The Oprah Magazine) and 170 articles containing "PCOS" and "polycystic ovary syndrome." Textual analysis using a grounded theory approach was used to identify themes. RESULTS: Articles depicted PCOS symptoms as a hindrance to women's social roles as wives and mothers and largely placed personal responsibility on women to improve their health. To a lesser extent, women were depicted as using their personal experience with PCOS to advocate for women's health. Experiences of Latina and African American women and adolescents with PCOS were absent from women's magazine articles. CONCLUSIONS: The findings can inform health education programs that teach women to be critical consumers of PCOS-related content in digital women's magazines. Future research on PCOS content in digital teen and women's magazines can help researchers, patients, and consumer groups engage with the media to increase public awareness of PCOS.

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  • Content analysis of teen and women's digital magazines noted an absence of discourse on race and ethnicity.

    “Such needs were further accentuated by the results of content analysis of teen and women’s digital magazines, which noted an absence of discourse on race and ethnicity and a paucity of content directed toward Latinas and African American women [93].”

    From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the Internet of Things: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [93]

  • One website study looked at content in teen and women's digital magazines.

    “The majority (n = 5) involved analysis of content from search engine results [46,47,91,94,95], while one each looked at content in teen and women’s digital magazines [93], French language internet forums [90], and a specific PCOS-related website [92].”

    From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the Internet of Things: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [93]

  • Eight included studies in the scoping review related to PCOS content on websites.

    “Eight included studies related to PCOS content on websites [46,47,90,91,92,93,94,95] (Supplementary File S3).”

    From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the Internet of Things: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [93]

  • Content analysis of teen and women's digital magazines noted a paucity of content directed toward Latinas and African American women.

    “Such needs were further accentuated by the results of content analysis of teen and women’s digital magazines, which noted an absence of discourse on race and ethnicity and a paucity of content directed toward Latinas and African American women [93].”

    From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the Internet of Things: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [93]

  • The teen and women's digital magazines study noted underrepresentation of adolescents with PCOS in magazine articles.

    “This study also noted the underrepresentation of adolescents with PCOS in magazine articles [93].”

    From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the Internet of Things: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [93]

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [5]National Institutes of Health Evidence-based Methodology Workshop on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome 2012 2015-11-30 https://prevention.nih.gov/docs/programs/pcos/FinalReport.pdf
  2. [28]Kline KN Thompson TL Parrott R Nussbaum JF Popular media and health The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication, 2nd edition 2011 New York, NY Routledge 252 67
  3. [64]Doyle C Media kit A Dictionary of Marketing, 3rd edition 2011 Cary, NC Oxford University Press

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Authors
Sanchez, N., & Jones, H.
Affiliations
University of Missouri (US)
Corresponding author
Sanchez, Ninive
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Publisher
JMIR Publications Inc.
Published
2016-06-02
Volume
18
Issue
6
Pages
e89
ISSN
1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2196/jmir.5417
PMC
PMC4911514
OpenAlex
W2411050924
Cited by
30
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1
FWCI
2.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Ovarian function and disorders
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
Keywords
polycystic ovary syndrome, women's magazines, teen magazines, media representation of illness, edutainment, gender roles, personal responsibility, Hispanic women, African American women, health education, critical media literacy
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Black or African American, Female, Health Education, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Mass Media, Periodicals as Topic, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Role, Women's Health, Spouses, Consumer Health Information

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