Quality Assessment of Blepharoplasty Information on TikTok: An Observational Qualitative Study

Introduction: Following a decline in overall surgical volume in 2020 due to the pandemic, there was a +81.7% increase in traditional blepharoplasties in the year 2021. 68% of a study's respondents reported increased awareness of facial plastic surgery (FPS) procedures through social media, which was significantly correlated with the decision to pursue FPS (P = 0.02). TikTok (ByteDance) is a social media platform commonly used by healthcare professionals and patients to share individual experiences and medical advice, and this study evaluates the quality and reliability of TikTok videos discussing blepharoplasties. Methods: This observational qualitative study analyzed the quality and reliability of TikTok videos discussing blepharoplasties. Videos were selected using six hashtags related to blepharoplasty: #blepharoplasty, #upperblepharoplasty, #lowerblepharoplasty, #eyelidsurgey, and videos tagged with the combination of #blepharoplasty and #surgeryrecovery. The top 20 videos with a minimum of 1,000 views were collected for each hashtag and reviewed by four independent reviewers using the DISCERN tool to assess video quality and reliability. Statistical analyses were performed in Excel using the Data Analysis ToolPak. Results: Of the 100 TikTok videos that were screened, 99 met inclusion criteria. Healthcare professionals (HCP) created the majority of videos reviewed (n = 51, 51.5%). Plastic surgeons created the most content of all HCPs (n = 31, 60.8%), followed by unspecified physicians (n = 10, 19.6%) and ophthalmologists (n = 6, 11.8%). Videos created by HCPs had significantly higher reliability (T = 5.37, P < 0.001), quality (T = 5.11, P < 0.001), and overall DISCERN scores (T = 8.40, P < 0.001) compared to non-healthcare professionals. Conclusions: TikTok videos about blepharoplasties have significantly greater reliability, quality, and overall DISCERN scores when they are created by HCPs as compared to non-healthcare professionals. This study underscores the need for active engagement by healthcare professionals on social media to combat misinformation.