EVALUATING THE QUALITY, ACCURACY AND HEALTH IMPACT OF CHOLESTEROL-RELATED CONTENT ON TIKTOK: A SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYSIS

Therapeutic Area

ASCVD /CVD Risk Reduction

Background

Hypercholesterolemia affects 86 million US adults, but only 54% are on cholesterol-lowering medications. Social media platforms like TikTok with over 1 billion users worldwide, offer both educational opportunities and risks of misinformation. This study evaluates the quality, accuracy, and health impact of cholesterol-related videos on social media through a TikTok analysis.

Methods

We searched #highcholesterol and #cholesterol on a new TikTok account on August 11, 2024. Of the 14,200 and 58,000 videos identified from each search term respectively, we evaluated the top 150 videos in each. Of the 300 total videos, 200 met inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Video analysis included engagement metrics, content, PEMAT-AV understandability and actionability scores, quality (GQS, mDISCERN), accuracy, and harm-benefit scores. Video content creators were classified as cardiologists, non-cardiologist physicians, other healthcare professionals, and lay creators. Evaluations were standardized with a grading rubric and a cardiologist-led training. Each video was graded for quality, accuracy, and harm-benefit by 2 independent reviewers. Videos with discrepant scores were graded by an expert cardiologist.

Results

The 200 videos had a total of 85,355,400 views, 3,264,000 likes, and 1,009,200 shares. 12% were made by cardiologists, 11.5% by other physicians, and 32.0% by other healthcare professionals. Diet (54%) and pathophysiology (59%) were the most discussed topics; exercise (4%) was the least discussed. 53% were advisory, 37% educational, and 18% promotional. Mean GQS, mDISCERN, PEVAT understandability, and PEVAT actionability (65% ± 39%) scores by content creator type were significantly different (Figure 1, p < 0.05), with higher scores noted in physician creators. Of the videos, 41% were deemed inaccurate and 36% were deemed potentially harmful. Videos by cardiologists and other physicians had significantly higher accuracy and health benefit scores than those by non-physicians (Figure 2).

Conclusions

The quality of content related to cholesterol on TikTok is low. Cholesterol misinformation is prevalent on TikTok. Videos by non-physician creators have lower quality, inaccuracies, and potential for harm. As video sharing social media platforms gain traction, clinician awareness of inaccuracies in patient-accessed cholesterol information is vital and strategies for credible content creation are necessary to combat this issue.