TBA (24S160)

The Epidemic of Social Media Misinformation on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Diets.

Author(s)

Lucy Mason, Clodagh L Murphy

Department(s)/Institutions

Department of Gastroenterology, Cork University Hospital

Introduction

In 2024, 79% of the Irish population use social media. Patients with IBD believe social media should be a key information source(Reich2019). As clinicians practising in an era of digital health, online information has a growing relevance to clinical practice.

Aims/Background

To assess the quality, accessibility and reliability of information about IBD diets on social media.

Method

The term “IBD diet” was searched in the top six social media platforms in Ireland, Facebook, Instagram, X(Twitter), Reddit, TikTok and YouTube. New social media accounts with no inputted demographics were created to avoid algorithmic bias. The first 20 generated posts in each platform were rigorously assessed for quality and reliability compared with AGA dietary guidelines.

Results

120 social media posts were evaluated. 46% of posts offered true dietary advice (range Instagram100%- X22%). The remaining posts were: IBD advice (14%), “What I Eat In a Day” videos(6%), IBD medical conferences(1%) and 24% posts irrelevant to IBD. Overall 14% of dietary advice posts followed AGA guidelines, (Range: Reddit22%- X11%). 70% did not follow any identifiable guideline. 24% of posts were from regulated bodies/verified medical professionals(Range: Instagram55%- Reddit12%). 28% of posts were associated with payment/affiliate links (range: Instagram88%- X/Reddit0%) with a range of payment of ($5-$4,500).

Conclusions

Unverified, inaccurate dietary guidance, often behind a paywall, accounts for the majority of information available for patients with IBD on social media. There is an onus on us clinicians to promote appropriate verified information sources.