May 16, 2023 - Healthcare providers are already aware of the risk of medical misinformation on social media sites, but a new study from researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine showed just how common that unverified information is on the popular app TikTok.
Looking specifically at TikTok posts about liver disease, the researchers found around 40 percent of videos contained medical misinformation, usually with posts pushing “fad diets,” “detox” drinks, and herbal remedies.
Healthcare is navigating a whole new world of social media, which can have serious implications for patient engagement. On the one hand, social media has the potential to broadcast public health messaging, like when some healthcare organizations used the platforms to inform patients when they should visit the ER with suspected RSV cases and when they should go into urgent care.
But there is, of course, the darker side of social media that runs rampant with medical misinformation. This was clearly visible during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and is evident now with studies like this showing how platforms like TikTok can be home to unverified and often inaccurate medical misinformation.
Led by Macklin Loveland, MD, the study’s lead author and an internal medicine resident at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, the researchers examined 2,223 TikTok posts tagged with the terms “cirrhosis” and “liver disease” between October and November of 2022. The researchers compared the...
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