To assess the quality, understandability, actionability, and diversity of speakers in videos on TikTok and YouTube regarding overactive bladder (OAB).
Using Application Program Interface, the top 500 TikTok and 120 YouTube videos on overactive bladder (OAB) were retrieved. Videos unrelated to OAB, those not in English, longer than 10 minutes, or lacking both text and audio were excluded. Surgical technique videos for providers were also excluded. Videos were scored by trained raters using 2 validated instruments: the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) for actionability and understandability, and the DISCERN instrument for quality of consumer health information. We also examined for evidence of misinformation and commercial bias.
136 TikTok videos and 75 YouTube videos met inclusion criteria. 88% of TikTok videos had poor PEMAT actionability scores (a score below 75%), as compared to 60% of YouTube videos. Both YouTube and TikTok videos scored low on PEMAT understandability. 98% of TikTok videos and 65% of YouTube videos were poor quality (DISCERN score <3). YouTube videos had higher actionability and quality than TikTok videos (P < .001) but did not differ on understandability (P = .769). 23% of TikTok and 11% YouTube videos had high misinformation (score >3). Commercial bias was present in 10% of TikTok and 19% of YouTube videos.
Actionability, understandability, and quality for OAB-related content is poor on YouTube and TikTok. With increasing access to social media, it is important that healthcare providers and organizations invest resources in patient education on health literacy.
Urology practice. 2023 Jun 22 [Epub ahead of print]
Jenna Kanner, Suneet Waghmarae, Amy Nemirovsky, Shu Wang, Stacy Loeb, Rena Malik
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland., University of Maryland Department of Urology, Baltimore, Maryland., Department of Urology and Population Health, New York University and Department of Surgery, Manhattan Veterans Affairs Medical Center, New York, New York.