Characteristics of Spanish-language pelvic organ prolapse content on TikTok

Objectives: Language barriers for non-English speakers negatively affect access to health care, quality of care, and health outcomes. Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in the United States. Social media in Spanish may be the primary source of health information in this community. Knowledge of this information helps us provide culturally competent care and improve outcomes. In this study we aim to describe a sample of Spanish language TikTok videos on pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

Methods: The first 150 videos for each of the following POP-related hashtags were identified: #prolapso, #prolapsouterino, #prolapsogenital, #prolapsovaginal, #cistocele, and #prolapsorectal. Videos were excluded if they were not in Spanish, they were not about POP, and/or did not pertain to humans. The data collected included: the source characteristics, the video’s purpose (educational vs. non-educational), the nature and accuracy of its content, video length, and additional metrics that help determine engagement such as the number of likes, comments, and shares.

Results: Nine hundred videos were identified. Five hundred and three of those videos were excluded as per protocol and 104 videos were excluded for being duplicates. Two hundred and ninety-three videos were analyzed. Preliminary analysis shows that 53% of sources are physicians, 16% are physical therapists, 14% are chiropractors, 3% are patients, 1% are nurses and 13% come from other sources or the source is unclear. Fifty-four percent of the videos are evidence-based, 37% are not evidence-based, 7% included a mix of both and 2% did not fit into any category. Eighty-seven percent are educational, and 13% are not. The most common countries of origin are Mexico and Peru. The video with the most comments and shares and the video with the most “likes” are by physical therapists. The most viewed video, with 8.6 million views, was created by a medical aesthetics clinic, advertising laser vaginal rejuvenation.

Conclusions: There is a notable presence of Spanish content relating to POP on TikTok and over half the sources are physicians. However, the videos that generate the most interest, as judged by the number of comments, shares, and likes are not by physicians, and many are presenting information that is not evidence-based. This work is a foundation to help understand the information available to our Spanish-speaking patients. It shines a light on the need to not only increase the amount of evidence-based information in Spanish but, more importantly, to present the information in a more effective and engaging manner making it accessible to a larger population.