O2057: Survey of integrated medicine topics related to children and pediatric care on a video based social media platform: #CAM on TikTok

Background: Social media platforms are a common method to share patient stories and health information on various medical conditions. TikTok, a video-sharing mobile application, is one of the most downloaded applications today, yet little is known about user-generated content related to pediatric associated integrated medicine on such platforms. The primary aim of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the diversity of content and information quality of videos related to common integrative medicine topics on TikTok. Additionally, insight regarding semantic, thematic, and sentiment aspects of creators associated tagged information and community contributions to videos was investigated.

Methods: The top 100 most popular pediatric related videos uploaded by TikTok video creators for various integrative medicine topics including yoga, acupuncture, mindfulness, art therapy, herbal medicine, ayurvedic and traditional chinese medicine areas were rated by two independent reviewers and classified as misleading, useful, and/or personal experience. Descriptive and quantitative characteristics of the videos were obtained. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V) and Global Quality Score (GQS) were used to assess the overall quality, understandability, and actionability of the videos. Semantic and sentiment analysis was completed with the aid of Gelphi and Python.

Results: Of the 1200 videos evaluated, a majority of videos were personal experience (92%) with a wide range of detail and thoroughness provided. Videos on the platform were highly understandable by viewers but had variable engagement and actionability to the viewer. Healthcare providers uploaded higher PEMAT-A/V quality videos compared to non-healthcare providers (p < 0.001). Few videos in the study were posted by healthcare delivery organizations (1%) (eg health systems, medical offices). Common themes include “how to use”, “daily impact”, therapeutics, comparing interventions/products and advocacy. Topics relating to behavioral, stooling, and appetite were more engaged compared to others (p < 0.05). Generally creator sentiment was positive (73%) but community comments had more domain variability.

Conclusion: TikTok offers a distinctive platform for learning and connecting with communities involved in integrative medicine, featuring content that spans personal experiences and professional insights, particularly concerning pediatric health challenges. It is advisable for healthcare institutions to explore strategies for monitoring public social media content, supplementing traditional community needs assessments to better understand population concerns. Furthermore, healthcare professionals and organizations should focus on creating targeted, precise health information specifically tailored for the pediatric community on various social media platforms.