TikTok and pediatric nephrology: content quality assessment of videos related to pediatric kidney disease and kidney transplant

Background Social media platforms such as TikTok (TM) are key sources of health information for young patients and caregivers. Misinformation is prevalent on TikTok (TM) across healthcare fields, which can perpetuate false beliefs about medical care. Limited data exists on the reliability of pediatric nephrology TikTok (TM) content. This study aimed to describe the quality of medical content of TikTok (TM) Videos (TTVs), related to pediatric kidney disease and transplant. Methods TTVs were selected using specific search terms and categorized into pediatric kidney disease and kidney transplant, excluding duplicate and adult-related content. The top 100 TTVs in each category, based on views, were analyzed. TTV characteristics were stratified by account type (physician, non-physician healthcare professional (HCP), non-HCP) and video aim (personal story, education, entertainment). DISCERN scoring, a validated questionnaire evaluating health information reliability, was conducted by 4 independent raters. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using a 2-way random effects model, and differences between content creator types were evaluated using one-way ANOVA and post-Hoc Tukey test. Results TTVs had a total of 12.5 million likes and 113.1 million views. Over 70% of videos were created by non-HCPs (n = 147/200). DISCERN scoring revealed low reliability of medical information across content creator types. TTVs created by physicians and non-physician HCPs about kidney disease had significantly higher mean DISCERN scores compared to those created by non-HCPs (2.85, p < 0.001 and 2.48, p = 0.005, respectively). Conclusions Educators within the pediatric nephrology community must keep in mind the lack of reliability of medical information available on TikTok (TM) and coordinate collective efforts to consider utilizing TikTok (TM) for patient education.