(9) “Stop Gaslighting Your Patients”: User Experience of IUDs on TikTok

Background: Benign Ovarian Disease: What we know and what we are doing to decrease unindicated oophorectomy.

Methods: We conducted a quantitative and qualitative assessment of videos that appeared when searching for “IUD” on the TikTok platform between July 2019- August 2022. Eligible videos contained content relevant to IUDs and were spoken and/or written in English. We obtained descriptive characteristics of the videos including classification type, healthcare expertise of content creator, IUD types, insertion, side effects, complications, and removal.

Results: Of the 354 videos that met inclusion criteria, the majority were created by nonhealthcare professionals (77%) and mentioned the creator’s personal experience with IUDs (68%). However, videos that were educational (5%) or created by healthcare providers (23%) averaged more likes and views than other video classification and user types. Across all videos, common content areas included IUD insertion (45%), side effects (31%), and removal (25%). Perceived gaps in knowledge about the insertion procedure and feeling that providers did not adequately explain or prepare patients for the procedure contributed to video creators’ negative experiences with IUD insertion and motivated them to share their experiences with IUDs on TikTok. Video creators often relied on information that they found on social media to educate themselves about the IUD insertion process. TikTok users expressed frustration at unacceptable levels of pain during the insertion procedure.

TikTok may serve as a useful resource for clinicians to understand the influence of social media on patients’ healthcare decisions as well as an opportunity for clinicians to contribute to the spread of accurate healthcare information online.