Quality of Allergic Rhinitis Content Across Social Media Platforms.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the quality and engagement of allergic rhinitis-related short-form content on social media.

METHODS

A search across TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, and YouTube Shorts was conducted for allergic rhinitis-related hashtags. Posts were categorized by content category, author, and popularity. Content was analyzed with the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Material (PEMAT-AV) to assess understandability, Global Quality Scale (GQS) to measure quality, and Accuracy in Digital-health Information (ANDI) to measure accuracy. Videos were independently assessed by two reviewers per platform; a third reviewer resolved discrepancies.

RESULTS

Four hundred and sixty videos were analyzed. Most (69.1%) were educational and authored by medical professionals (38.5%) or lay individuals (48.9%). YouTube had the greatest proportion of medical professional content (56.7%). Instagram scored highest for PEMAT understandability (72.0%) versus YouTube (70.9%), TikTok (61.1%), and Facebook (45.9%) (p < 0.001). YouTube scored highest for PEMAT actionability (55.6%) versus Instagram (48.2%), TikTok (45.3%), and Facebook (35.4%) (p < 0.001). YouTube had the highest average GQS (3.12) compared with Instagram (2.70), TikTok (2.21), and Facebook (2.09) (p < 0.001). YouTube also had the highest average ANDI score (2.80) compared with Facebook (2.19), TikTok (1.91), and Instagram (1.68) (p ≤ 0.026). On multivariable analysis, medical professionals were associated with greater GQS, ANDI, PEMAT understandability, and PEMAT actionability scores (all p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Among the platforms studied, Instagram and YouTube content just barely met the PEMAT understandability threshold (≥ 70%). However, none of the platforms on average contained adequately actionable or completely accurate content. YouTube Shorts host the greatest proportion of medical professional content and the highest-quality content relative to other platforms.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.