Analysis of intestinal ostomy content on TikTok: The role of social media in countering fear and stigma.

Background: Ostomates suffer from multiple comorbidities and social stigma, which can be especially debilitating in young patients. TikTok has become a popular platform for this population to establish a community and gain resources. This study aims to characterize intestinal ostomy videos on TikTok.

Methods: The top 50 videos for search terms "ileostomy," "colostomy," "ostomy," and "stoma" were queried on TikTok. Information was compiled regarding the videos' creators, content type, overall sentiment, and viewer engagement.

Results: A total of 113 videos amongst 38 creators garnered 52,021,700 likes and 370,983 comments. Most videos focused on education (45.5%) and personal stories (22.7%). Creators were predominantly young females (82.0%), with minimal input from healthcare professionals (3% of videos). Sixty-nine (61%) of videos had responses with further questions.

Conclusions: Our study reveals a gap between interest and availability of professional educational material regarding intestinal ostomies. Addressing this deficiency may improve patient acceptance, bystander understanding, and its negative stigma.