Frontiers in endocrinology
Accuracy, potential harm, weight stigma, and commercial influence in short-form social media content on incretin-based therapies for obesity
Von Yoon YJ, Velazquez A, Parmar SL und 9 weiteren.
Inhalt auf Englisch
Abstract
Background
Short-form video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts are major sources of health information, yet little is known about the reliability of what they carry on incretin-based therapies for obesity. We assessed the accuracy, safety, obesity-related stigma, and commercial nature of short-form videos on these medications.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional content analysis on June 15, 2025. Videos were retrieved for six medication keywords on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, and the 100 most-viewed videos within each platform's retrieved pool were included (n = 200). Four physicians certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine each coded a non-overlapping subset for clinical accuracy, hazard potential, obesity stigma, and commercial influence. A fifth senior physician reviewed all videos and issued final ratings. Six TikTok videos became unavailable before review, leaving 194 for content analysis.