Exploring the Quality of TikTok-Based Diabetes Self-Management Education in English and Spanish: A Digital Health Study.
Lisa Diaz, Dante Anthony Tolentino, Mary-Lynn Brecht and 2 others
PMID 41742788WHAT IT FOUND
Most popular type 2 diabetes TikTok videos in English and Spanish were low quality and covered few self-management topics.
Healthy eating dominated; coping was rare, especially in English. Professional creators scored higher than personal or company videos.
Key findings
01The 300 top English and Spanish type 2 diabetes TikTok videos were low quality overall, with a mean Global Quality Scale score of 2.31 and only 4% scoring above 4.
02Healthy eating was the most common topic, appearing in 61% of videos, while healthy coping and problem-solving were rare, appearing in 6% of total videos; healthy coping appeared more often in Spanish videos (10%) than English videos (2%).
03Health professional videos had higher quality than personal or company videos, but personal videos received more likes and comments than company videos.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study looked only at the most-viewed videos for 12 hashtags, so it may miss lower-view content that patients actually see. It covered only TikTok, so findings may not apply to other platforms. TikTok content and search results change over time, so this is a snapshot from mid-2024. Videos recommended by the algorithm were excluded, so their quality and source are unknown. Quality was judged only with the Global Quality Scale, without a second tool such as DISCERN. Creator credentials were not verified, so some personal or company accounts may not be what they claim. Raters were health professionals, not patients, so viewers may judge usefulness differently. The study did not measure patient outcomes or behavior change.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding came from the University of California, Los Angeles Graduate Summer Research Mentorship grant and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses Aguilar-Cuellar-Toben Research Grant 2024.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that TikTok is an effective diabetes self-management education tool. The study assessed public video quality and engagement, not patient outcomes, and most videos were low quality.