"Accutane Check": Insights into youth sentiment toward isotretinoin from a TikTok trend

Jayden Galamgam; Justin L Jia

doi:10.1111/pde.14660

"Accutane Check": Insights into youth sentiment toward isotretinoin from a TikTok trend

Pediatr Dermatol. 2021 Jul;38(4):980-981. doi: 10.1111/pde.14660. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Authors

Jayden Galamgam^{1

2}, Justin L Jia^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Dermatology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
² Program for Clinical Research and Technology, Department of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
³ Department of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.

PMID: 34128268
DOI: 10.1111/pde.14660

Abstract

Social media platforms such as TikTok allow patients to exchange and share health information. In this study, we sought to understand how teenagers and young adults utilize TikTok to engage with acne and isotretinoin information. Analysis of the top 50 TikTok videos on an isotretinoin trend demonstrated over 18-million likes and 137-thousand comments. Most videos focused on before and after improvement in acne severity while video comments primarily discussed side effects and personal anecdotes. Dermatologists should be aware of trending content on social media to better understand how youth patients and patient's families may receive medical information regarding isotretinoin outside of dermatology clinics.

Keywords: Accutane; TikTok; acne; emerging technology; inflammatory disorders; isotretinoin; pediatric dermatology; social media; youth.

MeSH terms

Acne Vulgaris* / drug therapy
Adolescent
Dermatologic Agents*
Humans
Isotretinoin / adverse effects
Social Media*
Young Adult

Substances

Dermatologic Agents
Isotretinoin