ArticleJournal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews2025
Comparative Analysis of Knee Osteoarthritis Treatment Information on Popular Social Media Platforms.
Article in Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- #KneeOsteotomy: Evaluation of the Quality and Educational Value of TikTok Videos.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- #Cartilage: TikTok Videos on Cartilage Surgery Demonstrate Low Quality and Limited Educational Value.Cartilage · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionWith the rise of social media as a source for health information, there is concern about the spread of unregulated, potentially misleading content. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of knee osteoarthritis (OA) treatment information on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram platforms where patients often seek medical advice.
methodsTikTok videos, Instagram posts, and YouTube videos focusing on knee OA treatment and meeting specific engagement thresholds were identified using a standardized search. Six reviewers, including orthopaedic faculty and residents, assessed the content's accuracy and reliability using a 10-question Social Media Outreach Content Assessment & Review Tool (SOCART), adapted from the DISCERN instrument. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance, linear regression, and mixed methods.
resultsThe study reviewed 130 social media posts (YouTube: 30, TikTok: 50, Instagram: 50). YouTube had the highest median number of followers/subscribers, whereas TikTok had the most likes/day and comments/day. Most TikTok (66.7%) and Instagram (92.0%) content creators were from private practices, whereas YouTube creators were mainly affiliated with academic institutions (40.0%). YouTube scored the highest in SOCART assessments (32.86 ± 0.89/50), markedly outperforming Instagram (21.30 ± 0.69/50) and TikTok (20.34 ± 0.87/50; P < 0.001). Content from academic institutions scored higher than that from nonacademic sources (28.04 ± 1.05 vs. 21.77 ± 0.859, P = 0.014).
conclusionYouTube's high ratings in all SOCART instrument categories suggest that it presents higher-quality information about knee OA treatments relative to Instagram and TikTok. However, YouTube content was still found to be inaccurate and unreliable, making it unsatisfactory for dissemination of important health information. In addition, despite having the lowest SOCART scores, TikTok received the most engagement. This study highlights two important findings: social media presents a risk for patient misinformation when seeking medical advice, and it creates opportunities for physicians to connect with patients using platforms with higher user engagement. Physicians and medical societies can use this information during educational content creation to inform platform choice and dissemination strategies.
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Registered trials
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