TikTok as a Health Information Source: Assessment of the Quality of Information in Diabetes-Related Videos

Abstract

Background Diabetes has become one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, and many people living with diabetes use social media to seek health information. Recently, an emerging social media app, TikTok, has received much interest owing to its popularity among general health consumers. We notice that there are many videos about diabetes on TikTok. However, it remains unclear whether the information in these videos is of satisfactory quality. Objective This study aimed to assess the quality of the information in diabetes-related videos on TikTok. Methods We collected a sample of 199 diabetes-related videos in Chinese. The basic information presented in the videos was coded and analyzed. First, we identified the source of each video. Next, 2 independent raters assessed each video in terms of the completeness of six types of content (the definition of the disease, symptoms, risk factors, evaluation, management, and outcomes). Then, the 2 raters independently assessed the quality of information in the videos, using the DISCERN instrument. Results In regard to the sources of the videos, we found 6 distinct types of uploaders; these included 3 kinds of individual users (ie, health professionals, general users, and science communicators) and 3 types of organizational users (ie, news agencies, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations). Regarding content, our results show that the videos were primarily about diabetes management and contained limited information on the definition of the disease, symptoms, risk factors, evaluation, and outcomes. The overall quality of the videos was acceptable, on average, although the quality of the information varied, depending on the sources. The videos created by nonprofit organizations had the highest information quality, while the videos contributed by for-profit organizations had the lowest information quality. Conclusions Although the overall quality of the information in the diabetes videos on TikTok is acceptable, TikTok might not fully meet the health information needs of patients with diabetes, and they should exercise caution when using TikTok as a source of diabetes-related information.

Characterizing the Content Related to Oral Health Education on TikTok

“…Compared with other health-related topics, oral health education doesn’t appear to be of high interest for TikTokers and viewers. For example, the keyword “diabetes” referred to 199 TikTok videos which received 2.75 million “likes” and were commented on and shared thousands of times [ 30 ].…”

“…Our research is relevant to analyze oral health education-related videos on TikTok as well as their potential effect on behavior. TikTok users are often adolescents and therefore belong to a potentially vulnerable and influenceable group of individuals [ 30 ]. Moreover, oral health is one of the most unmet health care needs of adolescents.…”

“…OHP did not agree concerning the fact that TikTok videos applied or not official recommendation (49.3% of agreement) and the fact that false or erroneous information was presented or not (46.4% of agreement). The evaluation of other TikTok videos in other health areas, such as “diabetes” or “acne”, has already shown serious shortcomings as well as the risk of spreading misinformation [ 30 , 78 ].…”

“…Since TikTok is mainly used by adolescents, this social media could therefore be a powerful channel to provide health-related information and educational information to young people [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. However, health information from TikTok videos often does not meet the necessary standards [ 30 ].…”

TikTok and public health: a proposed research agenda

“…A recent study on diabetes information on TikTok found that while good actors, such as qualified organisations, gave evidence-based information, those made by for-profit groups had poor quality. 8 A study evaluating medical information related to acne identified that the top 100 videos with the #acne hashtag had 'information with serious to potentially important shortcomings'. 9 Research is needed to understand who is giving medical advice, the quality of the advice offered, how BMJ Global Health users interact and incorporate information received into their lives and the opportunities for public health organisations to promote evidence-based information to TikTok users.…”