Current Public Trends in the Discussion of Dry Eyes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Popular Content on TikTok

Investigating Topical Steroid Withdrawal Videos on TikTok: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Top 100 Videos

BACKGROUND

Social media platforms like TikTok are a very popular source of information, especially for skin diseases. Topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) is a condition that is yet to be fully defined and understood. This did not stop the hashtag #topicalsteroidwithdrawal from amassing more than 600 million views on TikTok. It is of utmost importance to assess the quality and content of TikTok videos on TSW to prevent the spread of misinformation.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to assess the quality and content of the top 100 videos dedicated to the topic of TSW on TikTok.

METHODS

This observational study assesses the content and quality of the top 100 videos about TSW on TikTok. A total of 3 independent scoring systems: DISCERN, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Global Quality Scale were used to assess the video quality. The content of the videos was coded by 2 reviewers and analyzed for recurrent themes and topics.

RESULTS

This study found that only 10.0% (n=10) of the videos clearly defined what TSW is. Videos were predominantly posted by White, middle-aged, and female creators. Neither cause nor mechanism of the disease were described in the videos. The symptoms suggested itching, peeling, and dryness which resembled the symptoms of atopic dermatitis. The videos fail to mention important information regarding the use of steroids such as the reason it was initially prescribed, the name of the drug, concentration, mechanism of usage, and method of discontinuation. Management techniques varied from hydration methods approved for treatment of atopic dermatitis to treatment options without scientific evidence. Overall, the videos had immense reach with over 200 million views, 45 million likes, 90,000 comments, and 100,000 shares. Video quality was poor with an average DISCERN score of 1.63 (SD 0.56)/5. Video length, total view count, and views/day were all associated with increased quality, indicating that patients were interacting more with higher quality videos. However, videos were created exclusively by personal accounts, highlighting the absence of dermatologists on the platform to discuss this topic.

CONCLUSIONS

The videos posted on TikTok are of low quality and lack pertinent information. The content is varied and not consistent. Health care professionals, including dermatologists and residents in the field, need to be more active on the topic, to spread proper information and prevent an increase in steroid phobia. Health care professionals are encouraged to ride the wave and produce high-quality videos discussing what is known about TSW to avoid the spread of misinformation.

An analysis of oral contraceptive related videos on TikTok

Background

TikTok has increasingly become a source of information about reproductive health. Patients seeking health information about oral contraception on TikTok may be influenced by videos containing misinformation or biased information.

Objective

This social media infodemiological study aims to provide a descriptive content analysis of the quality and reliability of oral contraceptive health information on TikTok.

Study Design

Researchers screened 1,000 TikTok videos from December 2022 to March 2023 retrieved under various search terms related to oral contraceptives. Data, including engagement metrics such as views, likes, comments, saves, and shares, were recorded. Video content including contraceptive methods discussed, efficacy, tolerability, and side effects were recorded. Two reviewers independently used a modified DISCERN criteria and Global Quality Scale (GQS) to assess the quality and reliability of information for each video.

Results

Five hundred seventy-four videos were analyzed after applying exclusion criteria. Videos had a median length of 27 seconds (Q1=13sec, Q3=57sec) and received a median of 35,000 total views (Q1=4856 views, Q3=411,400 views) and 166 views per day (Q1=28 views per day, Q3=2021 views per day). Video creators were 83.3% female and 58.7% white. The mean modified DISCERN score was 1.63 (SD=1.06) and the mean GQS score was 2.28 (SD=1.37). Video creators were 83.3% female and 58.7% white. The mean modified DISCERN score was 1.63 (SD=1.06) and the mean GQS score was 2.28 (SD=1.37). The most common topic discussed in the videos was the effects of contraception. Healthcare professionals had significantly higher DISCERN and GQS scores (p<.001) than non-healthcare professionals. However, they received fewer views, likes, and comments on their videos (p<.001). Healthcare professionals were 86 times more likely than non-healthcare professionals to post educational videos (p<.001). However, non-educational content received significantly more views, likes, and comments than educational content (p<.001).

Conclusion

TikTok videos related to oral contraceptive health had low quality and reliability of information. The majority of videos were made by non-healthcare providers, and the most common topic discussed was the effects of contraception. Videos made by healthcare professionals contained more reliable contraceptive information, but received less engagement than videos made by non-healthcare professionals. Healthcare providers should consider the prevalence of poor-quality information about oral contraceptives on social media when counseling and educating patients about reproductive health.

LASIK Videos on TikTok: A Content Analysis of the Top 100 Videos

Introduction

Social media has increasingly become a prominent source of health information. Platforms like TikTok that allow for videos to reach millions of viewers have become among the most common platforms to share and receive health information. Laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) videos and patients' experiences are commonly discussed on social media. The quality of these videos remains to be assessed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the content, quality, and reach of the top 100 videos related to LASIK eye surgery on TikTok.

Methods

Video quality was assessed using the DISCERN, JAMA, and GQS instruments which have all been proven to be both reliable and valid.

Results

100 videos were included in the study. Results showed that the videos have an immense reach with a total view count of 245 million views and 21.9 million likes. Two thirds of the videos were posted by personal accounts as compared ophthalmologists that only constituted 26% of the content. Healthcare professionals produced higher quality videos compared to nonhealthcare professionals (p < 0.0001) although there was no significant difference in video duration (p=0.18). Increased duration, view count, comments, shares, saves, and views/day were all associated with increased DISCERN score and quality of the videos. Educational videos were of higher quality compared to entertainment videos, and videos outlining the procedure details had the highest quality score.

Conclusions

LASIK videos on TikTok have established a wide reach, whereby viewers are highly interacting and viewing these videos. It appeared that viewers interacted more with the higher quality videos. Ophthalmologists approximately only contributed to a quarter of the videos analyzed in this study. This highlights the need for ophthalmologists to establish a presence on TikTok and produce high quality videos.

An Emerging Ophthalmology Challenge: A Narrative Review of TikTok Trends Impacting Eye Health Among Children and Adolescents

In today's digital age, children and teenagers are deeply entrenched in the world of personal electronic devices including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. These serve as gateways to captivate online content. With children as young as 4 years old having access to these gadgets, the potential benefits of technology coexist with many possible risks. One such risk is the growing global issue of myopia. TikTok, a mobile application that gained immense popularity since its inception in 2016, has garnered 1.7 billion active monthly users in 2023 and is expected to reach two billion in 2024. A significant portion of TikTok's user base consists of adolescents, with approximately 41% falling in the 16-24 age group and a third aged 14 or younger. This social media platform has given rise to the phenomenon of "internet challenges," where users complete and share various tasks through videos. While most of these challenges are harmless, some pose serious risks to teenagers who eagerly seek validation and attention from their peers. This manuscript sheds light on a specific subset of TikTok challenges, namely those related to ophthalmological risks. These challenges include "rubbing castor oil trend," "bleach/bright eye challenge," "mucus fishing challenge," "eggsplosions", "beezin challenge", "Orbeez challenge", "blow-drying eyelashes", "sun gazing," and "popping styes". The manuscript emphasizes the importance of monitoring and regulating potentially dangerous content on social media platforms like TikTok. While these platforms offer educational opportunities, they can also promote life-threatening actions, necessitating efforts to protect vulnerable young users and promote safe online engagement.

An Analysis of Pediatric Ophthalmology Content on TikTok

PURPOSE

To assess pediatric ophthalmology-related information on TikTok (ByteDance).

METHODS

The 12 most commonly searched terms from the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus website were queried as TikTok hashtags. The top 20 videos for each hashtag were analyzed for views, likes, comments, saves, shares, author status and gender, content, and engagement level ratio (ELR). Subanalysis of the educational videos for quality, understandability and actionability, and medical accuracy using the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT), and modified Medical Information and Content Index (mMICI) was performed.

RESULTS

Analysis of 222 videos revealed a cumulative 191,337,973 views. Patients/families created the most videos (60.4%), followed by optometrists (14.4%), other (laypeople/unknown) (9.0%), ophthalmologists (7.7%), non-ophthalmology physicians (4.5%), and nurses (4.1%). Content was predominantly patient experience (56.8%), followed by educational (25.2%), humor (11.7%), self-promotional (3.6%), procedures (0.9%), other (0.9%), advertisements (0.5%), and career (0.5%). Educational videos had a lower ELR than humorous (3.3 vs 8.2, P < .001) and patient experience (3.3 vs 5.3, P < .001) videos, but more saves than patient experience videos (74 vs 25, P = .009). The mDISCERN scores were greater for videos authored by ophthalmologists (3, P < .001) and optometrists (2.5, P < .001) compared to lay-people (1.5). Ophthalmologist PEMAT understandability scores were greater than non-ophthalmology providers' (95.5% vs 67.4%, P = .002). There was no difference in PEMAT actionability (P = .743) or mMICI scores among the author subgroups (P = .206).

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric ophthalmology content on Tik-Tok ranges in quality and understandability. Additional research is needed to help promote posts created by eyecare providers to ensure evidence-based medical content reaches pediatric patients and their families. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2024;61(2):90-97.].

TikTok as an Educational Tool for Kidney Stone Prevention

INTRODUCTION

The incidence of kidney stones in the United States continues to increase. Although dietary interventions have shown to be effective in reducing stone events, adherence to medical management continues to be a limiting factor. For that reason, patient education has become a focus of many physicians. TikTok, a social media application with over one billion users worldwide, has emerged as an online center for medical knowledge sharing by physicians and non-physicians alike. TikTok users share kidney stone prevention information through short informational videos directly to the general public. Little is known regarding the quality of medical advice provided in these videos. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reach and quality of kidney stone prevention information on TikTok.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of renal stone prevention content on TikTok utilizing the search term #kidneystoneprevention to assess all the videos appearing on October 10th, 2022. Only videos in English, related to the topic, and with >1000 views were included. Videos were analyzed for descriptive statistics, including views, uploader profession, and stone prevention recommendations. Videos were assessed utilizing Denver International Study Center of Evaluative Rating of Information (DISCERN), a questionnaire used to appraise the quality of consumer health information (maximum score of 80 per video). The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine statistical significance groups.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 131 videos, 87 fit the inclusion criteria, resulting in a total of 8.75 million views. An average DISCERN score of 27.0 was observed. Only eight videos were published by physicians, of which the average DISCERN score of 35.3 was significantly greater than an average score of 26.2 for non-physicians (p<0.05). The most common recommendation was increased fluid intake (38.0%) followed by monitoring calcium levels (9.02%) and decreasing oxalate-rich foods (9.2%).

CONCLUSIONS

Kidney stone prevention content on TikTok has a wide reach with millions of consumers. The majority of videos fail to match American Urological Association recommendations regarding diet therapies for stone prevention. Further research is needed to understand the extent of kidney stone prevention misinformation on social media and how it contributes to patient outcomes. Increased engagement in TikTok by urologists and health organizations may improve public education.

Quality and Popularity Trends of Weight Loss Procedure Videos on TikTok

INTRODUCTION

The use of social media as a medical information tool parallels rising obesity rates. TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform, contains nearly 99,000 videos hashtagged "weightloss." Prior studies have analyzed the quality of medical information on TikTok in other areas of medicine. However, the quality of videos regarding weight loss procedures has not yet been determined.

METHODS

Hashtags encompassing three weight loss modalities were searched using TikTok's algorithm. The first 50 videos meeting inclusion criteria for each modality were considered. Two independent reviewers categorized videos and assessed their content quality using DISCERN. Quality scores and popularity were compared between videos sources, modalities, and content categories.

RESULTS

Of 150 videos included, 20.7% were created by physicians versus 79.3% by non-physicians (p < 0.001). The average DISCERN score for physician-created content was significantly higher than that of non-physicians (p < 0.001), despite significantly less popularity (p < 0.002). The 50 most popular videos had significantly lower DISCERN scores than the 50 least popular (p < 0.02). The average DISCERN score for endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) videos were significantly higher than videos related to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) (p < 0.001). VSG-related videos were significantly more popular than RYGB- and ESG-related videos (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001). Finally, educational videos had significantly higher DISCERN scores than weight loss transformation and personal experience videos (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Videos on TikTok related to weight loss procedures are poor, and greater popularity trends with lower quality. Assessment of content can encourage viewers to seek better information and allow providers to improve patient information tools.

TikTok and adolescent vision health: Content and information quality assessment of the top short videos related to myopia

Background

Despite the increasing recognition of the public health value of social media platforms, TikTok short videos focusing on adolescent vision health have not received much attention. We aimed to evaluate the content, sources, and information quality of myopia-related videos on TikTok.

Methods

The top 200 most-liked myopia-related videos on the Chinese version of TikTok were queried and screened on March 12, 2022. The descriptive characteristics, contents, and sources of the selected 168 videos were obtained, and their overall quality, reliability, understandability, and actionability were assessed using the validated scoring instruments DISCERN and PEMAT-A/V.

Results

Medical professionals were the main source (45.8%, 77/168) of videos. Misinformation (10.1%, 17/168) was mainly attributable to for-profit organizations (20%, 3/15) and individual non-medical users (31.3%, 10/32). However, their videos enjoyed the highest numbers of "likes," "comments," and "shares" (P < 0.05). The mean reliability and overall quality regarding treatment choice were (2.5 ± 0.5) and (3.1 ± 0.9), respectively. Videos on TikTok showed relatively high understandability (84.7%) and moderate actionability (74.9%). Video producers tended to partly or fully provide information regarding management (81.5%, 137/168) and outcome (82.1%, 138/168), and to ignore or only slightly mention content related to definition (86.9%, 146/169) and signs (82.1%, 138/168). The five video sources showed significant differences in the prevalence of misleading information (P < 0.001), publication reliability (P < 0.001), overall quality (P = 0.039), content score (P = 0.019), and understandability (P = 0.024).

Conclusion

Considering the moderate-to-poor reliability and variable quality across video sources, the substantial myopia-related content on TikTok should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, TikTok videos may serve as a surrogate or supplement for information dissemination if providers can ensure more comprehensive and accurate content.