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Extended Summary
Introduction
‘TikTok’ is a social media application based on the publication of short videos that has accumulated over 1.1 billion users worldwide since its launch in 2016. With the use of ‘TikTok’ on the rise, there is an increasing tendency for patients or family members to seek medical information online.
Objective
We aim to a...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... 25 (92.6%) were published by adults (remainder adolescents) and 23 (85.2%) were female. Of the 24 publishers there were 8 lay-people (33.3%), 7 doctors (29.2%), 5 family members (20.8%), 3 patients (12.5%), 2 therapists (8.3%) and 2 nondoctor healthcare professionals (8.3%) (Fig. 1). A breakdown of views by publisher type is presented in Fig. 2. Videos were categorised into three primary 'topics'; informative (14), method of treatment (9) and promotion of product ...
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IntroductionThe growing adoption of social media (SoMe) by the scientific community has cemented the role of SoMe in information dissemination and engagement of academic work. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between traditional and alternative SoMe metrics of urology journals.Methods
Urology journals listed on the SCImag...
Citations
... There is a body of educational content on SoMe platforms such as TikTok T® . In an evaluation of such content related to paediatric urology, O´Sullivan et al found that it was largely produced by laypeople (33.3%), family members (20.8%), patients (12.5%) among others [16]. Interestingly, it was the content produced by family members that attracted the highest number of views (82.5%). ...
Social media is increasingly used as a platform for patients to explore health care information. Our objective was to study the content on TikTok® in order to gain insight into the perspectives shared by the public on vasectomy. A search was performed using the hashtag ´#vasectomy´ on 12.20.2023 and the top 100 video posts from persons self-identifying as patients were included. Using an adaptation of a previously published system, a framework was created for organising and categorising the data related to vasectomy. Domains covered included reason for vasectomy, complications, vasectomy as a controversial topic in society and reference to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. Most content originated from the United States (85.0%) and the median number of views per video was 261 200 (interquartile range (IQR) 8416-1 800 000). In 12.0% of posts, the individual clearly stated that they were under 30 years of age. Two of the commonest topics to be addressed in the videos were recovery (41.0%) and pain (40.0%). 30.0% discussed the reason for undergoing vasectomy. Reasons included women’s rights (12%), safety over tubal ligation (5.0%) and desire to be childless (4.0%). 9.0% referred to the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. Complications were discussed in 19.0% including vasectomy failure (12.0%). 23.0% contained factually incorrect medical information. 31.0% of videos included the user voicing that vasectomy was considered to be a controversial subject. More than half of the videos (61.0%) were positive regarding the vasectomy process. Our findings reveal that vasectomy receives very high engagement on social media. This study confirms that patients do use it to share their experiences, both positive and negative. Misconceptions regarding this contraception method are common among the public and the urological community should work to address this.
... Prior research has suggested that as many as one in five TikTok videos contain misinformation (Brewster et al., 2022). This presence of misinformation, which has been found across many health topics (e.g., see Isaac et al., 2024;O'Sullivan et al., 2022), is especially problematic given that fact-checking is uncommon on social media (Neely et al., 2021). In a recent survey of how TikTok serves as a source of health information for young women in the United States (Kirkpatrick & Lawrie, 2024), it was found that nearly all the young women in the survey who had used TikTok believed that misinformation was prevalent on TikTok, but only about half of the participants reported that they believed they had encountered misinformation on TikTok themselves. ...
... It could be that the users know that there is a misinformation epidemic but have not been exposed to misinformation because of their commitment to only following credible users (thus leading the TikTok algorithm to feed them more credible content). However, given the large amounts of misinformation that have been identified on the platform [15,41,42] and Americans' inability to identify most forms of misinformation [43][44][45], it is more likely that this discrepancy is the result of some respondents not having recognized that they have been exposed to health misinformation. This possibility is further supported by our results that showed that respondents perceive other people as more susceptible to health misinformation on TikTok than they personally are. ...
Background
TikTok is one of the most-used and fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, and recent reports indicate that it has become an increasingly popular source of news and information in the United States. These trends have important implications for public health because an abundance of health information exists on the platform. Women are among the largest group of TikTok users in the United States and may be especially affected by the dissemination of health information on TikTok. Prior research has shown that women are not only more likely to look for information on the internet but are also more likely to have their health-related behaviors and perceptions affected by their involvement with social media.
Objective
We conducted a survey of young women in the United States to better understand their use of TikTok for health information as well as their perceptions of TikTok’s health information and health communication sources.
Methods
A web-based survey of US women aged 18 to 29 years (N=1172) was conducted in April-May 2023. The sample was recruited from a Qualtrics research panel and 2 public universities in the United States.
Results
The results indicate that the majority of young women in the United States who have used TikTok have obtained health information from the platform either intentionally (672/1026, 65.5%) or unintentionally (948/1026, 92.4%). Age (959/1026, 93.47%; r=0.30; P<.001), education (959/1026, 93.47%; ρ=0.10; P=.001), and TikTok intensity (ie, participants’ emotional connectedness to TikTok and TikTok’s integration into their daily lives; 959/1026, 93.47%; r=0.32; P<.001) were positively correlated with overall credibility perceptions of the health information. Nearly the entire sample reported that they think that misinformation is prevalent on TikTok to at least some extent (1007/1026, 98.15%), but a third-person effect was found because the young women reported that they believe that other people are more susceptible to health misinformation on TikTok than they personally are (t1025=21.16; P<.001). Both health professionals and general users were common sources of health information on TikTok: 93.08% (955/1026) of the participants indicated that they had obtained health information from a health professional, and 93.86% (963/1026) indicated that they had obtained health information from a general user. The respondents showed greater preference for health information from health professionals (vs general users; t1025=23.75; P<.001); the respondents also reported obtaining health information from health professionals more often than from general users (t1025=8.13; P<.001), and they were more likely to act on health information from health professionals (vs general users; t1025=12.74; P<.001).
Conclusions
The findings suggest that health professionals and health communication scholars need to proactively consider using TikTok as a platform for disseminating health information to young women because young women are obtaining health information from TikTok and prefer information from health professionals.
... Similar findings were also reported regarding TikTok information related to other diseases [16][17][18]. Some disease videos even exhibit a notable prevalence of misinformation, ranging from 41.2% to 77.8% [19][20][21]. These findings present challenges for viewers in discerning and selecting high-quality myopia education videos. ...
Background
TikTok is emerging as a vital platform for health information dissemination. Despite myopia being a global public health issue, the high-quality myopia information shared by health educators often fails to go viral. It is imperative to analyze the factors influencing video quality and popularity, especially from diverse perspectives of researchers, health educators, and audiences.
Methods
TikTok myopia-related videos were retrieved using TikTok’s default comprehensive search (DCS) and most liked search (MLS) strategies. Venn diagrams were employed to illustrate the relationships and commonalities between the two strategies across four sample sizes (top 200, 150, 100, and 50). Video metadata, including details such as creator information, production properties, upload time, video duration, and viewer engagement, were collected. Video quality was assessed using the DISCERN tool. Video content covering six aspects of myopia were evaluated. The impact of search strategies, video sample sizes, production properties, and myopia content on video quality and audience engagement was analyzed through single-factor or multi-factor analysis.
Results
DCS and MLS retrieval strategies, as well as varying sample sizes, resulted in differences in audience engagement for myopia videos (P < 0.039), while The DISCERN quality scores remained comparable (P > 0.221). Videos published by healthcare professionals (HCPs) and non-profit organizations (NPOs) were associated with high-quality (P ≤ 0.014) but comparatively lower popularity (P < 0.033). Videos that reported contents of risk factors, management, and outcomes showed high popularity (P < 0.018), while longer video duration (> 60s) exhibited the opposite trend (P < 0.032). Content on myopia evaluation (P ≤ 0.001) and management (P ≤ 0.022) and video duration were positively correlated with higher DISCERN quality.
Conclusion
Videos created by HCPs and NPOs deserve greater attention. Rather than pursuing entertaining effects, professional educators should emphasize producing concise, and high-quality myopia content that readily resonates with the audience and has the potential to go viral on the platform.
... Recent studies highlight the prevalence of misinformation on TikTok TM across healthcare elds. One study evaluating the quality of pediatric urology videos on TikTok™ found that 67% of the content contained misinformation, de ned as inaccurate or false content [5]. Xu et. ...
Background
Social media platforms such as TikTok™ are key sources of health information for young patients and caregivers. Misinformation is prevalent on TikTok™ across healthcare fields, which can perpetuate false beliefs about medical care. Limited data exists on the reliability of pediatric nephrology TikTok™ content. This study aimed to describe the quality of medical content of TikTok™ Videos (TTVs), related to pediatric kidney disease and transplant.
Methods
TTVs were selected using specific search terms and categorized into pediatric kidney disease and kidney transplant, excluding duplicate and adult-related content. The top 100 TTVs in each category, based on views, were analyzed. TTV characteristics were stratified by account type [physician, non-physician healthcare professional (HCP), non-HCP] and video aim (personal story, education, entertainment). DISCERN scoring, a validated questionnaire evaluating health information reliability, was conducted by 4 independent raters. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using a 2-way random effects model and differences between content creator types were evaluated using one-way ANOVA and post-Hoc Tukey test.
Results
TTVs had a total of 12.5 million likes and 113.1 million views. Over 70% of videos were created by non-HCPs (n = 147/200). DISCERN scoring revealed low reliability of medical information across content creator types. TTVs created by physicians and non-physician HCPs about kidney disease had significantly higher mean DISCERN scores compared to those created by non-HCPs (2.85, p < 0.001 and 2.48, p = 0.005 respectively).
Conclusions
Educators within the pediatric nephrology community must keep in mind the lack of reliability of medical information available on TikTok™ and coordinate collective efforts to consider utilizing TikTok™ for patient education.
... Furthermore, little attention has been paid to understanding the multiple credibility cues present in these videos. Specifically, authenticity is often highlighted as a central component of credibility (Barta & Andalibi, 2021), while other research suggests that formal expertise is an important determinant of credibility (O'Sullivan et al., 2022). In the social media domain, these two aspects often compete, but there is a lack of research that elucidates which cue -authenticity or expertise -has greater influence on users' credibility judgments. ...
... For example, it is difficult to correctly identify the original source of many videos due to extensive reposting and the lack of visibility regarding user identification and dates (Nilsen et al., 2022). Indeed, the vast majority of health-related content producers on social media are laypeople, rather than experts (McCashin & Murphy, 2022;O'Sullivan et al., 2022). These non-expert users are more prone to disseminating misleading health information. ...
In recent years, short-form social media videos have emerged as an important source of health-related advice. In this study, we investigate whether experts or ordinary users in such videos are more effective in debunking the common misperception that talking about suicide should be avoided. We also explore a new trend on TikTok and other platforms, in which users attempt to back up their arguments by displaying scientific articles in the background of their videos. To test the effect of source type (expert vs. ordinary user) and scientific references (present or absent), we conducted a 2 × 2 between-subject plus control group experiment (n = 956). In each condition, participants were shown a TikTok video that was approximately 30 seconds long. Our findings show that in all four treatment groups, participants reduced their misperceptions on the topic. The expert was rated as being more authoritative on the topic compared to the ordinary user. However, the expert was also rated as being less credible compared to the ordinary user. The inclusion of a scientific reference did not make a difference. Thus, both experts and ordinary users may be similarly persuasive in a short-form video environment.
... Broadly defined as any platform that enables users to share content and connect with one another (Farsi, 2021;Szeto et al., 2021), social media has become strongly integrated into societies around the world, with more than three billion people using at least one form of social media in 2018 (Debord et al., 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic further inflated its use (Chen & Wang, 2021), with lockdown restrictions and physical distancing measures forcing students to rely on social media to access information and remain connected to eachother (Limaye et al., 2020;O'Sullivan et al., 2022;Szeto et al., 2021). ...
Students are exposed to various academic, financial and psychosocial stressors while studying at a university, and have increasingly turned to social media to alleviate stress and access social support. While evidence suggests that social networking sites may promote health awareness and health-protective behaviours, little research has explored TikTok, a relatively new platform with over 800 million active users. Seven university students (6 females, 1 non-binary; all White British; mean age = 20.57) were interviewed about their experiences on TikTok, their motivations behind using it and its effects on their psychological wellbeing. A thematic analysis of this data revealed that while TikTok use temporarily relieved academic stress, it also encouraged addictive behaviour and upward social comparisons. These differential effects were largely mediated by TikTok’s algorithm, which recommended content based on users’ previous interactions.
... (Osman. Mohammed, Elhassan, and Shoufan, 2022;O'Sullivan, Nason, Manecksha, & O'Kelly, 2022). Lastly, in the health information that could be easily found through social media network sites such as Tiktok, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and other sites, those videos may seem as entertaining and informational but it is possible that it may contain an erroneous health information to some aspect as this networking sites are highly unregulated as stipulated by Swire- Thompson & Lazer (2020). ...
In this day and age, a lot of information can now be accessed through a wide variety of social media; ranging from videos, text, or posts from "accredited" doctors online. However, contrary to that, the question is to what extent would this accessibility be helpful and would this publicated knowledge about health preached by "legitimate" doctors be helpful at all? In this review, the term Health Related Videos was used to include the factors that lead to use of such information and its implications or influence to the behavior of such usage of information gathered by the general public through its means. This analysis yielded 42 articles and studies scattered across the aforementioned search engines.The purpose of this study is to investigate and reveal the extent in which consuming health related videos affects the behavior of those in exposure to such health information found online. Search engines such as Google Scholar, Science Direct, and E-Journals were browsed to provide a wide variety of literature that discusses the factors in which includes the main interest of this analysis. Overall, factors such as the need for information, access for information, professional gain, as well as profit from publishing health related content online, combating misinformation, guiding the public, and providing knowledge and making it more accessible is seen through the commonality across thematics that are found across the 42 articles and studies.
... Still, the pervasiveness of SM use among adolescents is not without its challenges. There is an increasing amount of medical content shared via SM, including content that is not evidence-based or that contains medical misinformation (Merchant & Asch, 2018;Murthy, 2021;O'Sullivan et al., 2022). Certain pediatric populations, such as youth with disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBIs), may be particularly vulnerable to this SM content because these conditions are often misunderstood or rejected (Woodham et al., 2022). ...
... However, these individuals may be at risk for obtaining medical misinformation or advice that is not evidence-based from fellow SM users. Indeed, one recent study investigating the scientific content of TikTok posts on pediatric urological conditions found that only 22% of videos had information aligned with modern care guidelines and that none had relevant citations or references (O'Sullivan et al., 2022). Similarly, analysis of TikTok videos pertaining to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common DGBI, showed that only 47% of educational videos included factual information (Jafri et al., 2022). ...
... Similarly, analysis of TikTok videos pertaining to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common DGBI, showed that only 47% of educational videos included factual information (Jafri et al., 2022). There is a rising concern for SM use contributing to the spread of medical misinformation and making it difficult for lay users to differentiate "science from science fiction" (Merchant & Asch, 2018;O'Sullivan et al., 2022). ...
Objective: Social media (SM) use among adolescents is commonplace and an extension of their daily lives, with emerging attention to how SM can impact healthcare behaviors. In particular, the clinical and ethical nuance of maladaptive SM use among adolescents with disorders of gut–brain interaction (DGBI) diagnoses remains unclear and pressing to consider. Method: This article presents case examples of maladaptive SM use in (a) a pediatric patient with DGBI and (b) a caregiver of a pediatric patient with a DGBI. We then contextualize these case examples in existing ethical frameworks (e.g., the American Psychological Association Ethics Code) and the extant literature. Results: SM use in pediatrics can negatively impact healthcare behaviors and can lead to consumption of medical misinformation; this impact is particularly significant in pediatric DGBI and merits clinical assessment of maladaptive SM use in this population. Conclusions: SM use can be adaptive or maladaptive for adolescents with DGBIs and caregivers, with maladaptive SM use presenting significant clinical and ethical considerations. In addition to discussing ethical considerations, recommendations, and resources, we also provide clinical questions and takeaways for healthcare professionals to implement in pediatric DGBI care.
... Challenges include difficulty with measuring impact, achieving audience diversity, maintaining information accuracy, privacy compliance, and controlling content posted by independent users [23,24]. X, YouTube, and TikTok have all been implicated in spreading misinformation [19,25,26]. Professional organizations like IVUmed have a responsibility to prevent or correct misconceptions, yet with limited ability to manage content posted by individual users. ...
Purpose
To evaluate whether X, formerly known as Twitter, is being used effectively to advance the goals of International Volunteers in Urology (IVUmed). How is X activity associated with end-user engagement?
Methods
Monthly analytics of the X account @IVUmed were reviewed between September 2014 and November 2022 using https://analytics.twitter.com/. Outcomes included tweets, mentions, impressions, engagements, interactions, followers, and profile visits. Statistical analysis using Mann–Whitney U test and Spearman’s rank-order correlation was performed. Top tweet content between December 2020 and November 2022 was also analyzed and assigned one of seven different categories: research, workshops, mission statement, educational materials, fundraising, individual spotlight, and other.
Results
Of @IVUmed’s 1668 followers, 1334 (80.0%) were individuals. One thousand one hundred twenty-six (84.4%) individuals listed their locations with the majority (79.8%) residing in high-income countries. Tweet impressions have increased over time; they were significantly higher (p < 0.01) on average after the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020. From December 2020 to November 2022, new followers were positively correlated with tweet impressions (p < 0.01), total mentions (p < 0.01), and profile visits (p < 0.01). Profile visits were positively correlated with total tweets (p < 0.01). The content categories for monthly top tweets that proportionally garnered the most engagements were workshops (50%) and individual spotlight (29%), despite not being the most tweeted about content categories.
Conclusion
Non-profit organizations wishing to increase their web-based outreach can benefit from increased primary X activity. While not evaluated in this study, it may also improve fundraising capabilities. Nevertheless, periodic review of account activity is important to ensure engagement of the targeted audience.
