Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Dermatology
Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 6, 2025 - Mar 3, 2025
Date Accepted: May 1, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
The Influence of Popular Media on Public Interest in Red Light Therapy
ABSTRACT
Background:
Social media platforms, particularly TikTok, have emerged as influential sources of medical information and treatment trends. In early 2024, red light therapy gained substantial attention on TikTok for skincare applications, despite limited scientific understanding of its long-term effects and safety profile with home use.
Objective:
To quantify the impact of TikTok exposure on public interest in red light therapy and compare interest trends with conventional skincare treatments.
Methods:
We analyzed Google Trends data from November 2019 to November 2024 for red light therapy-related terms and control terms. Statistical analyses included trend analysis and structural break detection.
Results:
Search interest for red light therapy terms showed significant increases post-February 2024 (p<0.001) compared to the previous year. Linear regression revealed significant positive trends for red light therapy terms while control terms showed either no significant trends or slight declines.
Conclusions:
TikTok's influence significantly increased public interest in red light therapy, surpassing traditional skincare treatments. These findings highlight social media's role in shaping healthcare trends and underscore the need for healthcare providers to stay informed about viral treatments.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.