Quality of social media content for strabismus
Reviewed by Lauren Hepworth

This study aimed to evaluate the quality of strabismus-related educational content on social media along with wider assessment of links between views, likes and type of creator. A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken on TikTok and Instagram platforms using hashtags: #strabismus, #squint, #eyeturn, #crossedeyes and #lazyeye. For each, the top 50 videos per platforms were screened. Qualitative assessment was undertaken using mDISCERN, Global Quality Scale and PEMAT-A/V to evaluate the reliability of content, overall quality of health-related content and assessment of understandability and actionability of the videos. The hashtags of #squint, #eyeturn and #crossedeyes did not yield relevant video results and were excluded. The top 200 video results for strabismus or lazy eye were analysed. Lazy eye was the most popular. The largest content creator was by patients at 50.5% followed by ophthalmologists at 19.5%. None were by UK clinicians. Quality scores varied considerably indicating wide variation in quality. Issues included lack of source references or clear guidance posing a risk of patients receiving incomplete or misleading information. Understandability scores were highest for ophthalmology and lowest for patients, with ophthalmologists creating the most reliable and valid educational content. However, videos scoring higher in education quality received lower engagement with numbers of views and likes. The potentially indicates that patients are drawn more to content with clear steps and guidance, relatability and ease of access. The authors conclude there are substantial gaps in content quality and professional engagement. There is strong potential to embrace these platforms and provide evidence-based content to improve strabismus information.

Strabismus: an assessment of educational content in social media.
Ghanekar E, Duff R, Hemanth LK, Jain S. 
STRABISMUS
2026;34(1):1–9.