Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36652187›Full record

ArticleObesity surgery2023

Quality and Popularity Trends of Weight Loss Procedure Videos on TikTok.

Ali Lahooti, Amier Hassan, Brian Critelli, Donevan Westerveld, Carolyn Newberry, Sonal Kumar, Reem Z Sharaiha

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Obesity surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Social media use among patients before and after metabolic and bariatric surgery: a systematic review.Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery · 2025
    Pooled it
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  4. Quality Assessment of Chinese TikTok as a Source of Information About Esophageal Cancer.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Ali LahootiDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Amier HassanDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Brian CritelliDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Donevan WesterveldDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Carolyn NewberryDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Sonal KumarDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Reem Z SharaihaDepartment of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1305 York Avenue, 4thFloor, New York, NY, 10021, USA. rzs9001@med.cornell.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-3235-6904

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe use of social media as a medical information tool parallels rising obesity rates. TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform, contains nearly 99,000 videos hashtagged "weightloss." Prior studies have analyzed the quality of medical information on TikTok in other areas of medicine. However, the quality of videos regarding weight loss procedures has not yet been determined.

methodsHashtags encompassing three weight loss modalities were searched using TikTok's algorithm. The first 50 videos meeting inclusion criteria for each modality were considered. Two independent reviewers categorized videos and assessed their content quality using DISCERN. Quality scores and popularity were compared between videos sources, modalities, and content categories.

resultsOf 150 videos included, 20.7% were created by physicians versus 79.3% by non-physicians (p < 0.001). The average DISCERN score for physician-created content was significantly higher than that of non-physicians (p < 0.001), despite significantly less popularity (p < 0.002). The 50 most popular videos had significantly lower DISCERN scores than the 50 least popular (p < 0.02). The average DISCERN score for endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) videos were significantly higher than videos related to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) (p < 0.001). VSG-related videos were significantly more popular than RYGB- and ESG-related videos (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001). Finally, educational videos had significantly higher DISCERN scores than weight loss transformation and personal experience videos (p < 0.001).

conclusionVideos on TikTok related to weight loss procedures are poor, and greater popularity trends with lower quality. Assessment of content can encourage viewers to seek better information and allow providers to improve patient information tools.

Indexed as

Gastric BypassGastroplastyObesity, MorbidSocial MediaHumansWeight LossBariatricEndoscopyObesityTikTok

Identifiers

PMID36652187
PMCPMC9845809

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.