Katwala Shreya, Chali Ashna, Wu Michelle, Yang Felix, Malavia Mira, Pham Trung
Internal Medicine, University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, USA.
Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Aug 4;17(8):e89372. doi: 10.7759/cureus.89372. eCollection 2025 Aug.
TikTok has emerged as a popular platform for sharing medical insights, but concerns exist regarding disseminating inaccurate information on medical conditions, potentially harming patient care. This study aims to evaluate the quality and reliability of TikTok videos on uterine fibroid embolization (UFE). It also examines how video engagement and content quality vary based on the uploader type and video style.
We selected the top 100 TikTok videos on UFEs based on the number of likes since March 2024. These videos were identified using the hashtag "#UFE." Videos were categorized based on several factors, including the number of likes, comments, shares, upload date, uploader's background (academic, non-healthcare professionals (non-HCPs), non-physician, non-radiologist, and radiologist), and type of content (anecdotal, educational, and procedural). The strength of treatment recommendations was assessed for all videos using the DISCERN instrument (16 to 80), which assesses reliability of treatment information, and the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V), which assesses understandability and actionability via a percentage score. Descriptive and ANOVA analyses were conducted with a statistical significance set at p < 0.05.
Of the top 100 TikTok videos related to UFE, 99 were in English and one was in Spanish, which was excluded from our study. A total of 12 videos (12.12%) were uploaded by radiologists, while the majority (66, 66.67%) were created by non-HCPs. Non-radiologist physicians garnered the highest average engagement and quality scores, including the highest DISCERN score (41.07). Academic institutions achieved the highest PEMAT understandability score (80.47%). Non-HCPs ranked second in engagement but had the second-lowest PEMAT understandability score (65.96%), just above non-physician HCPs, who had the lowest score (64.68%). Educational videos (35, 35.35%) outperformed anecdotal ones (59, 59.59%) in quality, achieving higher DISCERN (40.57) and PEMAT understandability (68.85%) scores. While DISCERN scores did not significantly differ by video aim, both PEMAT understandability (p = 0.01763) and DISCERN (p = 0.00166) scores showed significant differences based on the uploader type.
Our analysis of the top 100 TikTok videos on UFE reveals a landscape dominated by non-physician contributors, with only 12 videos created by radiologists. Despite this, content from non-radiologist physicians garnered the highest engagement and exhibited the highest quality, underscoring the influence of credible medical voices on social media. While anecdotal content prevails, educational videos achieved better quality scores, highlighting the value of evidence-based communication. These findings suggest a critical opportunity for radiologists and other physicians to enhance patient education, counter misinformation, and leverage TikTok as a low-cost, high-impact platform for healthcare communication. However, limitations include a narrow focus on highly liked content and exclusion of TikTok's algorithmic influence.
TikTok已成为一个分享医学见解的热门平台，但人们担心在该平台上传播关于医疗状况的不准确信息可能会损害患者护理。本研究旨在评估TikTok上关于子宫肌瘤栓塞术（UFE）视频的质量和可靠性。它还研究了视频的参与度和内容质量如何根据上传者类型和视频风格而有所不同。
我们根据自2024年3月以来的点赞数，挑选了TikTok上关于UFE的前100个视频。这些视频通过标签“#UFE”进行识别。视频根据几个因素进行分类，包括点赞数、评论数、分享数、上传日期、上传者背景（学术人员、非医疗保健专业人员（非HCP）、非医生、非放射科医生和放射科医生）以及内容类型（轶事、教育和操作）。使用DISCERN工具（16至80）评估所有视频的治疗建议强度，该工具评估治疗信息的可靠性，以及视听材料患者教育材料评估工具（PEMAT - A/V），该工具通过百分比得分评估可理解性和可操作性。进行描述性分析和方差分析，设定统计学显著性为p < 0.05。
在与UFE相关的前100个TikTok视频中，99个是英文的，1个是西班牙文的，后者被排除在我们的研究之外。共有12个视频（12.12%）由放射科医生上传，而大多数（66个，66.67%）由非HCP创建。非放射科医生获得了最高的平均参与度和质量得分，包括最高的DISCERN得分（41.07）。学术机构获得了最高的PEMAT可理解性得分（80.47%）。非HCP在参与度方面排名第二，但PEMAT可理解性得分第二低（65.96%），仅高于得分最低（64.68%）的非医生HCP。教育视频（35个，35.35%）在质量上优于轶事视频（59个，59.59%），获得了更高的DISCERN得分（40.57）和PEMAT可理解性得分（68.85%）。虽然DISCERN得分在视频目标方面没有显著差异，但PEMAT可理解性得分（p = 0.01763）和DISCERN得分（p = 0.00166）基于上传者类型均显示出显著差异。
我们对TikTok上关于UFE的前100个视频的分析表明，该领域主要由非医生贡献者主导，只有12个视频由放射科医生创建。尽管如此，非放射科医生的内容获得了最高的参与度且质量最高，这凸显了可信医学声音在社交媒体上的影响力。虽然轶事内容占主导，但教育视频获得了更好的质量得分，突出了循证传播的价值。这些发现表明，放射科医生和其他医生有一个关键机会来加强患者教育、对抗错误信息，并将TikTok作为一个低成本、高影响力的医疗保健交流平台加以利用，但局限性包括仅关注高点赞内容以及排除了TikTok的算法影响。
