TikTok videos on breast cancer prevention from physicians, clinics, more reliable than videos from nonphysicians, study shows

TikTok videos about mammograms created by medical professionals were more accurate than videos created by nonphysicians, according to recent research published in Clinical Imaging.

TikTok has approximately 135-153 million users in the United States, with adults spending an average of 52 minutes a day on the app. Additionally, approximately 55% of adults use social media broadly to gather health information. That means there is a lot of opportunity for information, correct or incorrect, to be spread.

A team of researchers led by Imran Bitar from Oakland University in Rochester, MN, used the DISCERN tool to evaluate TikTok videos and compared the quality and reliability of information created by physicians, nonphysicians and private clinics.

“This study highlights TikTok's growing role in breast cancer awareness and screening information, while also revealing significant gaps in content quality and accuracy,” Bitar and his team write in the study.

The DISCERN tool consists of 15 questions used to measure the quality of information, graded on a scale of 1-5, plus an overall quality rating.

The study began in March 2025 when Bitar and his team identified 983 videos on TikTok using the hashtag #BreastCancerScreening. They then pared it down to 123 videos, which met the inclusion criteria of receiving at least 70 likes. Finally, this was reduced to 75 videos. Researchers excluded videos that were not in English, were unrelated to breast cancer screening or were made by the same creator. Of the 75 videos, 31 were created by physicians, 23 were created by nonphysicians and 21 were created by private clinics.

The 75 videos analyzed had a total of 13,216 likes and 1,672 comments, with a mean DISCERN score of 2.83.

Specifically, results showed that physician-created videos earned a 3.12 DISCERN score, which was the highest average. This was followed by private clinic videos, which earned a 3.07 and nonphysician videos, which earned a 2.29.

The tool has been used to study other TikTok videos on spine surgery, in which the overall score of 50 hashtags, including #spinalfusion,” “#scoliosissurgery,” and “#spinaldecompression,” earned an average score of 24.4. In a separate study about laser refractive surgery, videos by healthcare professionals earned an average summation score of 34.03, compared with 30.72 for videos by nonhealthcare professionals.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States, behind skin cancer. Breast cancer accounts for approximately 1 in 3 new female cancer cases annually. Leading cancer organizations, including the American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging, recommend annual screening mammography beginning at age 40. Breast cancer screening, including mammograms, can reduce mortality by 7–23% in women aged 40–49 years.

However, in 2022, only 59.1% of women ages 40–49 years old and 76.5% of those aged 50–74 years old reported they had a mammogram within the last two years, according to a CDC report. Reasons women listed as mammogram barriers included social isolation, life dissatisfaction and cost.

“Both physician and non-physician creators must balance entertainment with educational value, ensuring that content is not only engaging but also medically accurate and reliable,” Bitar and his team write.