Assessing the quality of contraception‐related content on <scp>TikTok</scp> : A scoping review

BACKGROUND: In recent years, growing "hormone-phobia" and distrust in the medical field has pushed young women to use TikTok, a social media platform featuring short videos, as a source of contraceptive-related information. Yet a 2024 study found that only 19.4% of these videos were created by healthcare professionals. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this scoping review is to evaluate the quality of content about contraception on the TikTok platform. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase were searched using a combination of relevant keywords and MeSH terms. The search strategy was slightly modified for each database due to different search conventions for each. The full search strategies are noted in the Methods section. SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies that examined TikTok content regarding any form of contraceptive care (including long-acting reversible contraception, hormonal contraception, barrier methods, and emergency contraception) were included. Included articles had to be peer-reviewed (except abstracts), published after 2000, and written in English. Studies that did not focus on TikTok and contraception were excluded. In addition, case reports, case series, editorials, letters, or opinion pieces without empirical data were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted using the Covidence platform and analyzed using the online software Jamovi. MAIN RESULTS: Findings suggest that the intrauterine device (IUD) is the most commonly discussed form of birth control on the TikTok platform. In addition, there was consensus that the majority of videos on the platform about birth control were created by non-medical professionals and presented personal experience content, rather than evidence-based medicine. In addition, it was found that videos focused more heavily on negative side effects than the positives of using hormonal contraception. Finally, this analysis showed that there is a generally negative sentiment about hormonal contraception, especially the hormonal IUD, on TikTok. It was evident that there is growing distrust in the medical field, which has prompted many women to turn to social media for contraception-related information. CONCLUSIONS: The reviewed studies suggest that negative contraception-related content predominates on TikTok. Clinicians must be adequately educated about the content that their younger patients are exposed to, and must screen for social media usage in order to adequately treat adolescent patients. In addition, TikTok may present a unique avenue for healthcare professionals to combat health misinformation in the future.