BACKGROUND
With 1.6 billion users in 2021, TikTok has become the world's fastest-growing social media application ever since its first launch. Because of the explosion of information on it during the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more patients search for information on urinary tumors on TikTok.
OBJECTIVE
We aim to evaluate the quality and reliability of urinary tumor-related videos on TikTok by using robust assessing scales and share our thoughts based on the results for better public health promotion.
METHODS
We retrieved videos on bladder, prostate, and kidney cancer from TikTok. Each video's length and descriptions, hashtags, number of views/likes/comments, forms of expression, and the uploader's profile were included. Three validated assessment instruments: the Hexagonal Radar Schema, the Health on the Net Code scale, and the DISCERN instrument, were used for evaluating the quality and reliability of the information. All misinformation was counted and categorized. Univariate analysis of variance was performed for analyzing the results. The Post-Hoc least significant difference test was conducted to explore further explanation.
RESULTS
Out of 167 retrieved videos, only 61 (36.53%) met the inclusion criteria. Amongst them, 36.07% were misinformative, and the most common type was using outdated data. More than half of the videos could provide good (> 1 point) content on the diseases' symptoms and examinations. However, the definition and outcomes were poorly addressed (tied at 21.31 %). The HONcode scale and the DISCERN instrument revealed a consistent conclusion that most videos on TikTok were of poor to mediocre quality. Videos published by media agencies were statistically better than those posted by others in terms of reliability and overall score (P = .003 and .008, respectively). 86.89% of videos had at least two unexplained medical terms. Among them, healthcare professionals like to use professional terms most (mean = 5.28 words).
CONCLUSIONS
Most videos on urinary tumors on TikTok are of poor to medium quality and reliability. However, videos posted by media agencies enjoyed great public attention and interaction. Medical practitioners could improve the video quality by cooperating with media agencies and avoiding unexplained terminologies.