Dr. Nam on social media’s role in vasectomy education following Dobbs

In this video, Catherine S. Nam, MD, shares additional insights gleaned from the study, “Short-Term Changes in Vasectomy Consults and Procedures Following Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization.” Nam is a clinical andrology fellow at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and a recent graduate of the University of Michigan residency program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Video Transcript:

I think this was a great way to see how social media can play a huge role in public health and education of the general public. Following the decision, there's been a significant increase in interest in vasectomy overall. So, if you look at TikTok for #vasectomy, there's been 788 million, probably more at this point compared to when we last looked. Like I mentioned, there were some studies looking at the Google searches around vasectomy. This is a great opportunity for public outreach and re-education on the common misconceptions surrounding vasectomy. Many urologists participated in podcasts [and] interviews to make sure that the public has a great understanding. For example, some of the commonly held misconceptions is does vasectomy affect testosterone in a man afterwards? There have been many opportunities to clarify that that is not the case, and that it is also not the same as castration and that it is not associated with sexual dysfunction. Some patients, especially in clinic, ask about some of the long-term repercussions of vasectomy in terms of its relation to increased risk of cancer or other disease processes. This was a great opportunity to revisit that and say that the literature, as it stands, [shows that] there is no association between vasectomy and cancer or other long-term consequences.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.