Evaluation of a patient education platform for seborrheic dermatitis

Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is a common, burdensome inflammatory skin disorder. Little is known about the identity and quality of videos patients consume on social media to better understand and manage SD. We evaluated three social media platforms—YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—for content, quality, and popularity. Search terms “seborrheic dermatitis,” “dandruff,” “cradle cap,” and “flaky scalp” identified videos on each platform. The first 50 videos for each keyword were analyzed. After screening, 147 YouTube, 132 Instagram, and 164 TikTok videos were included. Videos were characterized by upload source (healthcare provider/organization [HCP]/non-HCP), quality (accurate/misleading/non-informative), content (educational/personal xperience/entertainment/advertisement), and number of likes/views. Data were analyzed by chi square (categorical) or Kruskal–Wallis (continuous) tests. YouTube contained a higher proportion of videos vs. TikTok and Instagram that were made by HCPs (42.2/19.7/17.7%, respectively) and contained more accurate (52.4/28.0/32.9%), and educational (66.7/38.6/34.4%) content (p < 0.0001 for all). Non-HCPs were responsible for creating the majority of videos across platforms along with most inaccurate/non-informative (65.9/86.8/78.6%) and non-educational (56.5/75.5/71.1%) content (p < 0.0001 for all). Despite lower quality of content and information, TikTok videos had the highest mean views (2,418,872) and likes (184,395) (p < 0.0001 for all). HCP vs. non-HCP-made videos were viewed more frequently only on YouTube. Though views and likes were common for all inaccurate and entertainment/advertisement content, they were most characteristic of TikTok and Instagram (p < 0.0001). These results show a high volume of SD video consumption across all platforms, especially those with lower quality and less informative content, and significant content difference across platforms. Additional studies are needed to better characterize online SD educational content and optimize HCP-led video creation and patient video consumption.