Analysis of #Backpain on Tiktok in September 2021: An Exploratory Study

Introduction: Low back pain imposes a high social and financial burden in all countries across the globe. Acute non-specific back pain (ANSBP) is a leading cause of disability among teenagers, adolescents and young adults. It is plausible that TikTok’s popularity among teenagers, adolescents and young adults may influence decision making about what constitutes appropriate ANSBP self-care among a younger age cohort.Methods: This exploratory study examined 157 of the most viewed videos available through the hashtag #backpain available on TikTok in September 2020. We examined the following research questions (RQs). RQ1: What are the metadata characteristics of the videos in the final data set?; RQ2: What are the author identities reflected in the final data set in this study?; RQ3: What are the ANSBP self-care content themes in the final data set?; and RQ4: What are the characteristics of the data set based on a low back pain reference checklist?. Results: We identified clear differences based on TikTok author’s identity in our data set of most popular videos. We found that the TikTok’s authored by chiropractors were consistently among the most popular (i.e., most viewed, most commented and most shared). Conversely, chiropractic TikTok’s generally had the lowest self-care reference checklist scores relative to all other disciplines. That is, TikTok’s authored by chiropractors were least concordant with the reference checklist and thereby, chiropractic TikTok’s were least likely to reflect scientific consensus on treating ANSBP.Discussion: TikTok is an increasingly popular medium for disseminating short health messages. This exploratory study aimed to evaluate the scope of ANSBP content available on TikTok in September 2020. The main cohort using TikTok is young and at risk of ANSBP. However, we suggest that the messages reaching young TikTok users overall do not generally reflect the self-care advice described in the Lancet back pain guidelines [35]. We found methods used for analysis of YouTube videos may also be adapted to the analysis of TikToks.Conclusion: TikTok is a popular social media channel among young people. It is plausible that TikTok’s popularity may influence decision making about what constitutes appropriate ANSBP self-care in young people. However, we found that most messages reaching younger people about ANSBP self-care do not reflect evidence-informed guidelines. The most viewed TikTok’s about ANSBP are not produced by mainstream health professionals. There is scope for mainstream health professionals to provide evidence informed self-management and self-care content for ANSBP.