JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Oral diabetes medications are important for diabetic control. Although there are many health-related videos on TikTok, it is unclear the quality of the information and the effects on user attitudes.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to analyze the quality of information and user attitudes related to the diabetes oral medications on TikTok.

Methods:

The keyword "diabetes oral medications " was used to search on the Chinese version of TikTok, and finally included 138 samples. Then, the basic information of the videos and the content of user comments was captured using Python. The sentiment category of each video was assigned based on the predominant positive, neutral, or negative attitude, as analyzed using the Weiciyun website. Two independent raters assessed the video content and the information quality using the DISCERN and PEMAT-A/V instruments.

Results:

Medical doctors were the main source of the videos (136/138, 98.6%). The overall information quality of the videos was acceptable (mean 3.27, SD 0.67). Videos on TikTok showed relatively high understandability (mean 75.14%, SD 12.64%) but poor actionability (mean 59.43%, SD 32.27%). Most content on diabetes oral medications on TikTok related to the mechanism of action (75/138, 54.3%), precautions (70/138, 50.7%), and advantages (68/138, 49.3%), with limited information on indications (19/138, 13.8%) and contraindications (14/138, 10.1%). It was found that 10.1% (14/138) of the videos contained misinformation, of which 50% (7/14) were about the method of administration. Regarding user attitude, the largest percentage of videos were positive (92/138, 66.7%), followed by neutral (34/138, 24.6%) and the least was negative (12/138, 8.7%). Multinomial logistic regression revealed two factors influencing positive attitude: user comments (P=.04; Adj OR 0.503, 95% CI 0.269-0.965) and information quality of treatment choices (P=.01; Adj OR 3.556, 95% CI 1.339-9.443).

Conclusions:

Despite most videos being posted by doctors with generally acceptable information quality and positive user attitude, some content inaccuracies and poor actionability remain. Users show more positive attitudes towards videos with high-quality information of treatment choices. This study suggests that healthcare providers should ensure the accuracy and actionability of video content, enhance the information quality of treatment choices about oral diabetes medications to foster user positive attitudes, help users access accurate health information, and promote medication adherence.