Implicit hype? Representations of platelet rich plasma in the news media

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) has gained popularity in recent years for treating sports-related injuries and the news media frequently reports on elite athletes’ and celebrities’ use of PRP. We conducted a content analysis of newspaper coverage of PRP in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States. Findings show that news media coverage of PRP appears most frequently in sports-related stories, and in relation to elite athletes use of PRP. PRP injections are largely portrayed as a routine treatment for sports-related injuries and newspaper articles rarely discuss the limitations or efficacy of PRP. We argue that while news media coverage of PRP exhibits very few common hallmarks of hype, its portrayal as a routine treatment used by elite athletes and celebrities creates an implicit hype. This implicit hype can contribute to public misunderstandings of the efficacy of PRP.

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Implicit hype? Representations of platelet rich plasma in the news media

August Implicit hype? Representations of platelet rich plasma in the news media Christen Rachul 0 1 John E. J. Rasko 1 2 Timothy Caulfield 1 ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. 1 1 0 Office of Educational and Faculty Development, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, Manitoba , Canada , 2 Gene & Stem Cell Therapy Program, Centenary Institute, University of Sydney , Camperdown , Australia , 3 Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney , Camperdown , Australia 1 Editor: James H-C Wang, University of Pittsburgh , UNITED STATES 2 Cell and Molecular Therapies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital , Camperdown , Australia , 5 Health Law Institute, and Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta , Edmonton, Alberta , Canada Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) has gained popularity in recent years for treating sports-related injuries and the news media frequently reports on elite athletes' and celebrities' use of PRP. We conducted a content analysis of newspaper coverage of PRP in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States. Findings show that news media coverage of PRP appears most frequently in sports-related stories, and in relation to elite athletes use of PRP. PRP injections are largely portrayed as a routine treatment for sportsrelated injuries and newspaper articles rarely discuss the limitations or efficacy of PRP. We argue that while news media coverage of PRP exhibits very few common hallmarks of hype, its portrayal as a routine treatment used by elite athletes and celebrities creates an implicit hype. This implicit hype can contribute to public misunderstandings of the efficacy of PRP. - Funding: The authors thank the Trudeau Foundation for funding support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Introduction Despite its development and clinical use for over thirty years, platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections have become increasingly popular in the past decade, particularly for treating sportsrelated musculoskeletal injuries. The injections are widely available at both private and hospital clinics, and as a cosmetic, anti-aging service often referred to as the ªvampire facialº [ 1, 2 ]. PRP has also garnered the attention of the popular media, particularly its use by elite athletes such as Tiger Woods, members of the Pittsburgh Steelers' prior to winning the Super Bowl, many professional soccer players [3], and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian [ 4 ]. However, despite its popularity, there is little evidence from clinical trials to support this widespread use and, to date, it remains a largely unproven treatment [5±8]. Popular media coverage of new and emerging biotechnologies and therapies has been shown to contribute to the development of ªscience hypeº±that is, the exaggeration of the benefits of science and understatement of any risks or other concerns [ 9,10 ]. Recent studies have found that popular media coverage of health and health technologies also favor patient access to health therapies over concerns about efficacy, safety, and even financial limitations [ 11,12 ]. In addition to, and perhaps as a consequence of, the popular media contributing to science hype, the media can play a role in shaping public perceptions of and interest in new biomedical technologies [ 13 ], and even influence an individual's health-related behaviors [ 14 ]. Media coverage of celebrities' use of new and emerging biotechnologies and therapies may further heighten the hype surrounding these technologies and therapies [ 15,16 ], and also have an impact on health-related decision-making [17±19]. Given the growing popularity of PRP injections and the media coverage of its use by elite athletes and celebrities, we examined the portrayals of PRP in English-language newspapers published in six countries. This analysis seems particularly timely given the growing concerns regarding both how research is presented to the public±especially in the context of regenerative medicine [ 10 ]±and the promotion of unproven regenerative therapies [20±23]. How the media represents PRP matters. It may impact public expectations and facilitate the marketing of products and procedures that do not have a strong scientific base. Context At the current time, the efficacy of PRP in the context of most conditions remains unclear, at best. Indeed, in well-controlled clinical trails and meta-analyses where bias was minimized, PRP has been demonstrated to offer no benefit in acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries [5±8] including: torn rotator cuff [ 24,25 ]; chronic Achilles tendinopathy [ 26,27 ]; anterior cruciate ligament graft surgery [ 28 ]; and acute hamstring muscle injuries [ 29,30 ]. While clinical research continues, there are very few conditions for (...truncated)


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Christen Rachul, John E. J. Rasko, Timothy Caulfield. Implicit hype? Representations of platelet rich plasma in the news media, PLOS ONE, 2017, Volume 12, Issue 8, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182496