{
  "abstract": "Background: Short-form video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts are major sources of health information, yet little is known about the reliability of what they carry on incretin-based therapies for obesity. We assessed the accuracy, safety, obesity-related stigma, and commercial nature of short-form videos on these medications.\n\nMethods: We conducted a cross-sectional content analysis on June 15, 2025. Videos were retrieved for six medication keywords on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, and the 100 most-viewed videos within each platform’s retrieved pool were included (n = 200). Four physicians certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine each coded a non-overlapping subset for clinical accuracy, hazard potential, obesity stigma, and commercial influence. A fifth senior physician reviewed all videos and issued final ratings. Six TikTok videos became unavailable before review, leaving 194 for content analysis.\n\nResults: TikTok videos had higher median view counts (964 650 [Q1–Q3 615 350–1 525 000] vs 24 526 [7 036–104 569], p < 0.001) and higher raw like and comment counts. Normalizing to views changed the picture. Likes per 1000 views did not differ (24.7 vs 20.4, p = 0.069), and comments per 1000 views were higher on YouTube Shorts (1.2 vs 0.8, p < 0.001), where videos were also older (720 vs 221 days, p < 0.001). Clinical accuracy did not differ significantly (23.4% [95% CI 16.0–32.9%] vs 39.0% [95% CI 30.0–48.8%], p = 0.062). Hazard potential was more common on TikTok (31.9% vs 17.0%, p = 0.015), but this came from promotion of compounded products, four times more frequent on TikTok (14.9% vs 4.0%, p = 0.009). Restricted to directly unsafe clinical content, the platforms did not differ (20.2% vs 13.0%, p = 0.176). Obesity stigma (p = 0.118) and commercial influence (p = 0.438) were comparable.\n\nConclusion: Most short-form videos about incretin-based obesity therapies carried no accurate clinical information, and accurate videos drew only 24% of cumulative views. Promotion of compounded products clustered on TikTok and accounted for the platform difference in hazard potential. Evidence-based, bias-free communication is needed if these platforms are to educate the public about obesity pharmacotherapy.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health , , ,",
    "Jim and Eleanor Randall Department of Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center , , ,",
    "Harvard Medical School , , ,",
    "Palo Alto Medical Foundation , , ,",
    "Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Nutrition, and Weight Management, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center , , ,",
    "Center for Weight Management and Wellness, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Hypertension, Brigham and Women’s Hospital , , ,",
    "Hanyang University College of Medicine , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 12,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yeo-Jun Yoon"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Amanda Velazquez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Sehej-Leen Parmar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Katayoun Lotfi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Denise Wong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Cagney Cristancho"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Katherine Salim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Seongwon Jeon"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Sangmo Hong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Hyungoo Shin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Caroline M. Apovian"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Dong Wook Kim"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/659zzgj4g2t0e.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fendo.2026.1844311",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671960/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "659zzgj4g2t0e",
  "issns": [
    "1664-2392"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13671960",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3306|Social Media in Health Education"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215106726",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671960/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13671960",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/659zzgj4g2t0e.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:18Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13671960",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13671960"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:20Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fendo.2026.1844311",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2026.1844311/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:1664-2392",
      "subfield": "endocrinology-metabolism"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Accuracy, potential harm, weight stigma, and commercial influence in short-form social media content on incretin-based therapies for obesity",
  "title_text": "Accuracy, potential harm, weight stigma, and commercial influence in short-form social media content on incretin-based therapies for obesity",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/659zzgj4g2t0e",
  "venue": "Frontiers in endocrinology",
  "versions": []
}