Current Public Trends in the Discussion of Dry Eyes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Popular Content on TikTok

Introduction Dry eye disease (DED) is a common ocular pathology with significant impacts on both quality of life and visual function. One platform where individuals are receiving healthcare information is TikTok, the world's fastest-growing social media platform. Though used by more than one billion users, current literature is not established to assess the quality of information on TikTok. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of DED-related medical information present on TikTok. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of DED content on TikTok, utilizing the search term #DryEye to assess the top 150 videos appearing on December 20, 2021. Included videos were analyzed for descriptive statistics, including views, likes, uploader profession, and the number of uploader followers. Videos were assessed utilizing DISCERN, a tool used to appraise consumer health information. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine statistical significance groups. Results A total of 101 videos were included in the final analysis. When comparing content creators, physicians received a significantly greater number of views and higher DISCERN scores (p<0.05) than non-physician medical providers and non-medical individuals. The content of the videos were educational content (n=39, 38.6%) or treatment information (n=37, 36.6%), followed by home remedies (n=10, 9.9%) and personal anecdotes (n=8, 7.9%). Videos with rich supplementary visuals (multiple images/moving images) had higher DISCERN scores compared to videos with no supplementary visuals or one supplementary visual (p<0.01). Conclusion With the growing popularity of TikTok, it is important to provide high-quality information to ensure the dissemination of medically accurate information and reduce the prevalence of disinformation. Our results demonstrate that while TikTok is a powerful platform, the quality of videos can still be vastly improved. Content creators, regardless of profession, can improve their DISCERN through listing sources, comparing treatments, and discussing risks/outcomes of various treatment modalities.