The quality and reliability of TikTok videos on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a propensity score matching analysis

Yongkang Lai; Zixuan He; Yilong Liu; Xiaojing Yin; Xuanming Fan; Ziang Rao; Hongyu Fu; Lun Gu; Tian Xia

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1231240

The quality and reliability of TikTok videos on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a propensity score matching analysis

Front Public Health. 2023 Oct 4:11:1231240. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1231240. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yongkang Lai^{1

2}, Zixuan He¹, Yilong Liu³, Xiaojing Yin¹, Xuanming Fan¹, Ziang Rao³, Hongyu Fu¹, Lun Gu¹, Tian Xia¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University/Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Gastroenterology, Ganzhou People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanchang University, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China.
³ College of Basic Medicine Sciences, Second Military Medical University/Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Background: Lifestyle modification is the cornerstone of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) prevention and treatment. Short video platforms can facilitate easier access to health information for patients, thereby influencing lifestyle changes. An increasing number of individuals rely on online platforms to acquire health-related information about NAFLD. However, the quality of information regarding NAFLD on these platforms remains unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the quality of information about NAFLD on TikTok.

Methods: A total of 497 videos were retrieved from TikTok. The basic video information, including the video source, was extracted. Two independent raters evaluated the quality and reliability of the videos using the Global Quality Score system and a modified DISCERN tool. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare video quality across sources.

Results: NAFLD-related videos on TikTok were divided into three groups according to the uploader: health professionals, medical institutions, and science bloggers. Overall, the quality of NAFLD videos on TikTok was not satisfactory. Before PSM, there were no significant differences in video quality or content between the three groups. After PSM, the quality of NAFLD videos from health professionals was significantly better than the videos created by other groups. Besides, the videos of health professionals outperformed those of medical institutions and science bloggers in terms of the definition of disease, risk factors, and treatment, but were inferior to those of medical institutions considering the symptoms and tests of NAFLD.

Conclusion: The quality of NAFLD-related videos on TikTok needs improvement. Compared with videos created by science bloggers and medical institutions, videos from health professionals may provide accurate guidance on the treatment and prevention of NAFLD.

Keywords: TikTok; health education; lifestyle modification; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; social media.

MeSH terms

Humans
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease*
Propensity Score
Reproducibility of Results
Risk Factors
Social Media*

Grants and funding

ZH was supported by the Shanghai Sailing Program (No. 23YF1458700) and the Youth Start-up Fund of Naval Medical University (No. 2022QN065).