#threadlift: Information Quality Analysis on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok

Introduction:
Thread lift is a minimally invasive method for treating facial aging. Social media effectively increases the demand for such procedures and collects information.

Objective:
This study analyzed the quality of information about thread lift on social media.

Material and methods:
Videos were searched on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok using the hashtag #threadlift. The videos were evaluated using the DISCERN and Global Quality Scale. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using kappa and intraclass correlation coefficients. The difference between the means was evaluated using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney U tests. Statistical significance was below 0.05.

Results:
Inter-rater agreement was high. The quality of the video content was generally low across all platforms, mainly at the “very poor” and “poor” levels. The quality score was higher on YouTube than on the other platforms. TikTok scored the worst. No differences were observed between the video uploaders. Among content uploaders, plastic surgeons and dermatologists, experts in the field, are falling behind. The quality of content on thread lifting was low across all platforms, although YouTube scored the best.

Conclusions:
It should be emphasized that cosmetic procedures, such as thread lifting, are medical procedures for human health rather than commercialized items; dermatologists and plastic surgeons should provide better-quality content and social media companies should check health-related content.