[Quality of health information on pharmaceutical products in audiovisual social media: influence of educational content].

Abstract

Objective: Audiovisual social media platforms are becoming increasingly prominent as sources of health information. Pharmacists are gaining visibility as content creators in this space; however, the quality of the information they share about pharmaceutical products remains underexplored. The objective of this paper was to assess the quality of information on medications disseminated by pharmacists on audiovisual social media platforms and to analyze the influence of educational framing and declared advertising on that quality.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. A total of 755 videos were collected in March 2024 from the ten most-followed pharmacist accounts (≥1,000 followers) on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Two independent reviewers evaluated the quality using the abbreviated DISCERN scale (1-5). Educational content (yes/no) and declared advertising were coded. Robust linear regression models were applied to estimate the association between predictors and DISCERN scores.

Results: Overall quality was moderate to low (mean DISCERN score: 2.43±0.40), with no significant statistical differences across platforms (p=0.327). Educational videos (28.2%) achieved higher scores (2.62±0.38) compared to non-educational ones (2.34±0.39; p<0.001). Declared advertising decreased quality scores by -0.30 points (p<0.001), with a stronger effect observed on TikTok (-0.50).

Conclusions: Educational framing consistently enhances the informational quality of pharmacist-generated content, regardless of the platform, whereas declared advertising undermines it, especially on TikTok. Promoting evidence-based micro-educational content and enforcing transparent sponsorship labeling may improve the reliability of pharmaceutical information on social media.