S2094 Trust Your Gut? A Cross-Sectional Study Assessing the Quality of Microbiome-Related Advice on Social Media

Introduction: The human gut microbiome plays a critical role in digestive, immune, and metabolic health, fueling rising public interest in gut-focused diets and wellness strategies. TikTok, one of the fastest-growing platforms for health-related content, has become a prominent source of microbiome advice for a large, engaged audience. As its influence on health behaviors grows, evaluating the quality and reliability of gut health content is increasingly important. This study conducts a systematic content analysis of TikTok videos related to gut health and the microbiome to assess the prevalence of evidence-based information, identify key themes and influencers, and compare the characteristics of content created by medical and non-medical users. By examining video quality scores, engagement metrics, and common recommendations, this research offers insight into how social media platforms shape public understanding of gut health. Methods: The top 50 videos from each of the hashtags #guthealth and #microbiome were collected using Apify, yielding 100 unique videos. After removing non-English content, 83 videos remained and were categorized by author type (medical vs non-medical) and video type (informational, personal, funny, or misleading). Informational videos were assessed using DISCERN and PEMAT (understandability and actionability), and overall quality was evaluated with the 5-point Global Quality Scale (GQS). Fisher’s exact test and unpaired 2-sample t-tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 83 videos, 46 were informational, 28 personal, 7 funny, and 2 misleading. Common themes included microbiome maintenance (n = 19), dietary tips (n = 17), and applications of the microbiome (n = 12). Informational videos averaged a DISCERN score of 40/80 and a mDISCERN of 3/5. PEMAT scores showed 78% understandability and 71% actionability, indicating moderate clarity and usefulness. Conclusion: No significant differences in views or engagement were found between medical and non-medical creators or between personal and informational videos. Informational content had higher GQS scores than personal videos (P = 0.002), and medical creators produced higher-quality content overall (P < 0.05). While these results align with expectations, the modest DISCERN and PEMAT scores suggest room for improvement in both the accuracy and clarity of microbiome advice on TikTok. These findings highlight the need for more accessible, evidence-informed health content on social media platforms.