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TOPLINE:

Only 16% of the TikTok videos related to sun protection are created by board-certified dermatologists (BCDs), with beauty bloggers and patients being the predominant content creators.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of the top 100 videos on TikTok for five hashtags (#sunscreen, #sunprotection, #spf, #skincancer, and #skinprotection) between August 25 and 27, 2023, for a total of 500 videos.
• They categorized the videos based on the type of content creator, including dermatologists, dermatology residents, non-dermatologist physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, estheticians, registered nurses, patients/consumers, skin care companies, and beauty bloggers.
• Data on the number of views for each video, videos having sponsorship, and videos addressing skin of color (use of the terms "black skin," "brown skin," "dark/darker skin," or "skin of color") were documented.

TAKEAWAY:

• Only 16.6% of the videos were created by BCDs; beauty bloggers were the most prevalent creators (38.7%), followed by patients or consumers (33.7%).
• BCDs created 39% of the videos for #skincancer, 18% for #spf, and 16% for #sunprotection.
• The videos got 981.5 million views. Beauty bloggers accounted for 51.8% of the views, whereas videos created by BCDs accounted for 12.7%. Of the total of 21 sponsored videos, seven were created by BCDs.
• Only 3.2% of the videos included content relating to skin of color.

IN PRACTICE:

"Increasing dermatologists' presence on TikTok can potentially help combat misinformation and promote sun-protective habits," the authors wrote, recommending that board-certified dermatologists "should consider creating more content related to sun protection and skin cancer to fill this gap."

SOURCE:

The study, led by Rachel R. Lin, BS, Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami, Miami, was published online in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was limited by its short timeframe for data collection and the review of only the top 100 videos for each hashtag. Findings may be influenced by the viral trends at the time of data collection.

DISCLOSURES:

The study did not disclose any funding source. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.