Despite medical professionals posting more reliable TikTok videos about sudden cardiac death, non-expert creators still receive more attention, revealing a gap between the quality of information and audience reach, according to a new study.
Important points
Medical professionals posted more reliable and high-quality sudden cardiac death videos than non-medical creators, and received higher scores in DISCERN, JAMA, and CRAAP ratings.
Non-healthcare creators generated more engagement with higher reshares, favorites, and engagement rates despite lower quality content.
There was no significant difference in video sentiment between healthcare and non-healthcare creators, but non-healthcare videos were numerically more positive.
The study highlights a gap between accuracy and reach on TikTok, suggesting that better evidence-based health content doesn’t automatically get the most attention.
Research: The quality of TikTok videos about sudden cardiac death depends on the characteristics of the video and the accuracy of the health information. Image credit: Korawat Photography / Shutterstock
In a recent study published in the journal scientific reportresearchers evaluated the quality, sentiment, and engagement of TikTok videos about sudden cardiac death (SCD).
TikTok as a risk source of health information
TikTok is one of the most popular health information platforms among young people. TikTok claims freedom of creation and free speech, but has been criticized for not consistently regulating false information, explicit content, and hate speech. Content is prioritized based on engagement metrics, which can lead to the spread of misleading and harmful content.
TikTok contains a large number of health-related videos, primarily created by non-medical professionals. These videos oversimplify complex situations and often do not adhere to evidence-based information. Although the role of social media in spreading (mis)information about health has received much attention, there is a lack of research on TikTok’s SCD content.
Study design and video selection method
In this study, researchers analyzed the quality, sentiment, and engagement of SCD-related videos on TikTok. The Exolyt analytics platform’s top video search feature was used to identify SCD-related content on TikTok using two hashtags. For each hashtag, the top 50 videos will be selected from the ranking results. All searches and data extraction tasks were performed on December 22, 2024. Duplicate videos and non-English videos have been removed. An additional 10 videos were excluded due to insufficient data.
Content quality assessment and analysis tools
Engagement metrics such as comments, likes, and shares were systematically reviewed. Content authors were categorized as healthcare professionals (HCPs) and non-HCPs based on publicly available self-reported profile information. Health information in the videos was examined using three quality assessment tools. The DISCERN scale, a validated instrument for assessing the quality of written consumer health information, was adopted to assess the quality of health information and treatment presented in videos.
In addition, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark, which evaluates health information on web pages based on attribution, author name, currency, and disclosure, was applied to the video analysis. The Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose (CRAAP) test, designed to assess the trustworthiness of online sources, was adapted to evaluate videos.
Sentiment analysis was performed by reviewers to classify the emotional tone of the video content as neutral, positive, or negative. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to examine the association between video characteristics and quality assessment scores. It was also used to analyze the relationship between sentiment scores and healthcare worker status, quality rating scores, views, followers, video length, engagement rates and metrics. In this paper, these analyzes are described as exploratory.
The first sample consisted of 100 videos. After exclusion, 83 videos were selected for analysis. These include 52 non-HCP videos and 31 HCP videos. HCP videos were significantly longer, while non-HCP videos had higher reshares, favorites, and engagement rates. Additionally, HCP Video received significantly higher scores on DISCERN, JAMA benchmarks, and CRAAP evaluations. Non-HCP videos (59%) showed more positive emotions than HCP videos (41%), but this difference was not statistically significant.
Detailed comparison of quality scores between videos
Within the DISCERN domain, HCP videos more strongly presented a clear purpose, achieved that purpose, demonstrated relevance, identified sources, and clearly presented information than non-HCP videos. Additionally, HCP videos were superior to non-HCP videos in providing additional resources, a balanced perspective, and explanation of treatment mechanisms, benefits, treatment options, risks, impact on quality of life, and consequences of not receiving treatment.
HCP videos also scored higher across JAMA Benchmark domains and were recognized for stronger authorship, source attribution, avoidance of promotional intent, and more recent content. Similarly, these videos received high scores in individual areas of the CRAAP test, including verifiable credentials, author credibility, presentation of context, accuracy of information, avoidance of inaccuracies, objectivity, and educational purpose.
Video length and number of reshares were positively correlated with all three quality assessment scores. Favorite videos were positively correlated with JAMA benchmark and CRAAP test scores. Other metrics such as engagement rate, comments, and likes showed no significant association. Notably, HCP status was strongly correlated with all three scores.
Emotion was significantly negatively correlated with video playback time. No significant correlation was observed between sentiment and reshares, views, engagement rates, or rating scores. Additionally, there were no differences in emotions depending on the type of content creator. Sentiment showed a weak positive but non-significant association with number of favorites and number of followers.
Impact of health information on social media
In summary, this study found that TikTok videos on SCD created by healthcare professionals had better content quality, credibility, and quality assessment performance, but lower engagement rates than those by non-healthcare professionals. Higher CRAAP, JAMA benchmark, and DISCERN scores for HCP videos indicate that HCP videos provide higher quality and more reliable information.
These results highlight the need for strategies to improve the impact and accessibility of professional health information. However, because this study is cross-sectional, only evaluates highly ranked English videos under two hashtags, and relies on an adapted scoring tool and judges’ judgment, its findings should be interpreted with caution.
Reference magazines:
- Bansal M, Jalal A, Usman FM et al. (2026). The quality of TikTok videos about sudden cardiac death depends on the characteristics of the video and the accuracy of the health information. scientific report. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-39081-7, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-39081-7
