A cross-sectional analysis of TikTok's most popular dermal filler videos

Dermal filler injections pose serious risks when administered by untrained individuals or when food and drug administration (FDA) guidelines are not adhered to. This issue may potentially be compounded by a growing reliance on social media platforms for health information.

Our objective was to analyze the quality of health information in videos published on dermal filler on TikTok.

We searched three hashtags, #filler (2.4 billion views), #dermalfiller (132.8 million views), and #fillersinjection (137.0 million views) and assessed the top videos returned by TikTok's algorithm that met inclusion criteria. The quality of health information was evaluated using the DISCERN instrument, a validated tool that uses a 1 to 5 scale to assess consumer health information.

Videos received a mean DISCERN score of 1.64 (SD 0.33), indicating significantly low quality. 7% of the videos promoted non-FDA-approved uses of filler. Notably, videos posted by physician assistants or physicians received the highest mean scores (1.92 and 1.72) as well as videos categorized as educational (1.99).

Dermatologists should be aware of the high viewership of low-quality TikTok videos on dermal filler. Dermatologists shall, therefore, understand the importance of their role in providing education to patients on this topic.