Quality, Reliability and Accuracy of Hyperthyroidism-Related Content on Social Media Platform TikTok

To evaluate the quality, reliability and accuracy of hyperthyroidism-related content on TikTok using validated assessment tools.

We systematically searched TikTok for 'hyperthyroid' and 'high thyroid', analysing 115 videos after exclusions. Two independent researchers assessed videos using the Global Quality Scale (GQS, range 0-5) for overall content quality, the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN, range 0-5) for reliability and the Accuracy in Digital Information (ANDI, range 0-4) tool for factual correctness. We categorised creator credentials and content purpose, performing statistical analyses to examine associations with video quality and engagement.

Of the 115 videos analysed, the mean ANDI score was 3.15/4, the mean GQS was 2.72/5, and the mean mDISCERN score was 2.47/5. Educational content (98.3%) demonstrated higher GQS (p = 0.019) and mDISCERN (p = 0.040) scores than non-educational content. Conversely, anecdotal content (35.7%) was associated with significantly lower GQS (p = 0.002) and mDISCERN (p < 0.001) scores. Healthcare professionals (HCPs, 37.4% of creators) produced videos with higher ANDI (p = 0.015), GQS (p < 0.001) and mDISCERN (p < 0.001) scores than non-HCPs. Notably, physician-created videos garnered higher engagement across all metrics (p < 0.05).

While some TikTok content on hyperthyroidism is of high quality, particularly from healthcare professionals, the platform is dominated by lower quality content from non-experts. This underscores the need for increased engagement from healthcare professionals on social media to improve the accuracy and reliability of health information available to the public.