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TikTok as a source of information regarding premature ejaculation: a qualitative assessment

Ari Bernstein, Michael Zhu, Justin Loloi, Mustufa Babar, Nick Winokur, Matthew Wysocki, Seth D. Cohen

Sexual Medicine, 2023

14 citations

Abstract

Abstract Background Patients are increasingly looking to social media platforms for medical information. Aim In this study we aimed to evaluate the quality of information regarding premature ejaculation (PE) on TikTok. Methods The term “premature ejaculation” was searched on TikTok on a single day in May 2022. Videos were sorted by 3 reviewers as reliable or unreliable based on the accuracy of video content. Relevant user metrics were collected for each video, including the numbers of likes, shares, and followers, and the video length, source of upload, and speaker type. The quality of information was objectified with 2 validated tools, with mean scores obtained from the 3 reviewers, the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) and the 5-point modified DISCERN instrument. Outcomes Outcomes were video reliability categorization, video and user metrics as described above, and video quality as quantified by PEMAT and DISCERN scores. Results Eight videos were categorized as reliable and 32 videos were categorized as unreliable. The mean number of “likes” per video was higher in the reliable than in the unreliable group (1238 vs 126, P < .018). Accounts posting reliable videos had higher mean numbers of followers than those posting unreliable videos (55 050 vs 12 042, P = .025). The majority of unreliable videos (75%) vs reliable videos (12.5%) were posted by self-identified patients or individual users, whereas 62.5% of reliable videos vs versus 6.3% of unreliable…

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