Viral voices: Depictions of women's pain experiences on social media.

TikTok is a popular social media platform increasingly used to disseminate health information and personal experiences, including among women with pain. Characterizing health-related content can help understand how public perceptions are shaped and guide improvements in patient care. Although women with pain often seek information on social media, little is known about social media content pertaining to women's pain. In this study, the content, characteristics, and engagement metrics of the top 100 TikTok videos on women's pain were analyzed. "Women's pain" was searched on TikTok using TikTok's proprietary algorithm. A total of 140 videos were retained for preliminary extraction, and the first 100 that met inclusion criteria were analyzed. Qualitative content analysis of video content was performed, leading to the development of 15 content categories. Of these categories, 66.6% (10/15) represented aspects of women's pain experiences characterized as having a negative tone, including "visual depiction of being in pain," "minimizing/dismissing/gaslighting women's pain," "ineffective pain treatment," "women's pain not being investigated enough," and "assuming women's pain is due to menstruation, motherhood, or mental health issues." Descriptive analyses indicated that the top 100 videos had a combined 338.8 million views and 35.1 million likes. Most videos featured non-healthcare providers' creators (76.0%). Across content categories, the highest engagement rates were observed for the category "women's pain is not understood by others" (15.0%). Overall, strong negative trends were observed in TikTok video content pertaining to women's pain. These findings underscore the urgent need for improved pain care for women experiencing pain. PERSPECTIVE: This article reports on the content, characteristics, and engagement metrics of the top 100 TikTok videos pertaining to women's pain. These findings provide clinicians and researchers with important insights into women's pain experiences and have the potential to inform future research, education, and training initiatives aimed at improving women's pain management.