Abstract Details

Title Patient Information for Stroke on Instagram: A Content Quality and Audience Engagement Analysis

Topic Cerebrovascular Disease and Interventional Neurology

Presentation(s) P10 - Poster Session 10 (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 4-006

Objective

To analyze quality and engagement of stroke-related Instagram videos.

Background Social media platforms like Instagram have become a major source of health information, but the accuracy and usefulness of stroke-related posts on it remain uncertain. Visually appealing but low-quality content can misinform patients and caregivers. This study analyzed the quality and engagement of stroke-related Instagram posts and identified factors associated with higher-quality content.

Design/Methods Cross-sectional content analysis of Instagram videos using the hashtag “#stroke”, collected between May 25-26, 2025 from the platform's “For You” feed. A new account was created to reduce algorithm bias. English posts with stroke-related information were included, while duplicates, non-English, or posts without audio/captions were excluded. Sequential sampling yielded 100 videos. Metadata extracted included creator type, followers, duration, and engagement metrics. Four physician raters independently evaluated content quality using DISCERN and PEMAT-A/V tool, with consensus adjudication.

Results Among 100 videos, 57 were from healthcare professionals (HCPs) and 43 from non-HCPs. Non-HCP posts were shorter (median 14 seconds vs 37; p = 0.0017) and had higher views (median 872,000 vs 98,400; p = 0.0015), likes and comments. HCP posts demonstrated greater engagement rate (median 3.1% vs 0.9%; p < 0.0001), higher DISCERN (median 26 vs 15; p < 0.0001), PEMAT understandability (median 4 vs 3; p = 0.022), and actionability (p = 0.0018) score. HCPs focused on education and treatment, while non-HCPs emphasized patient stories and product promotion (p < 0.0001). DISCERN correlated with HCP status (ρ = 0.67; p < 0.0001) and longer video duration (ρ = 0.56; p < 0.0001).

Conclusions Higher-quality stroke information on Instagram is primarily produced by healthcare professionals (HCP) and appears in longer videos. However, lower-quality (non HCP) content often achieves greater reach, revealing a disconnect between popularity and reliability. Strengthening the visibility of evidence-based content is essential to improve public awareness and patient safety.

Authors/Disclosures
R.N.Roghan Balaji, MBBS PRESENTER	Mr. Balaji has nothing to disclose.
Reveda Murugan, MD	Dr. Murugan has nothing to disclose.
Roha Tahir, MBBS	The institution of Dr. Tahir has received research support from Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.
Harikrishna Choudary Ponnam, MD	Dr. Ponnam has nothing to disclose.
Ragini Gopagoni, MBBS	Dr. Gopagoni has nothing to disclose.
Laxmi prasana Sakamuri, MD	Dr. Sakamuri has nothing to disclose.
Shermeen Usman, MBBS	Dr. Usman has nothing to disclose.
Meisya Rosamystica	Miss Rosamystica has nothing to disclose.
faisal nawaz, MD	Dr. nawaz has nothing to disclose.
Vikas Bansal, MD	Dr. Bansal has nothing to disclose.
Rahul Kashyap (WellSpan Health)	Rahul Kashyap has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care.

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