Quality and reliability of knee osteoarthritis-related information on short video platforms in China: a multi-method cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Knee osteoarthritis is a highly disabling chronic disease that imposes a substantial societal burden.Short video platforms have become a primary source of health information in China, yet the quality of such content is highly variable. There is currently a lack of systematic and multi-platform assessments of knee osteoarthritis-related information quality on these platforms.

METHOD: This study retrieved and included 300 videos related to knee osteoarthritis from three platforms-TikTok, Bilibili, and Rednote-as the analytical sample. The basic characteristics of the videos (likes, comments, duration, etc.), the identities of the publishers (orthopedic surgeons, other medical personnel, institutions, and ordinary users), and the content types were collected and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Three standardized tools, Global Quality Scale (GQS), modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), and The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), were used to independently assess the quality of the videos. We also examined the correlation between these quality scores and video features.

RESULT: There were significant differences among the three platforms. TikTok videos had the highest user engagement but the shortest duration (median 108 s); Bilibili had the longest video duration (median 262 s), and achieved a significantly higher median GQS score 3(IQR2-4) than Rednote 2(IQR2-3) (p < 0.001); Rednote performed the best and was the most stable in JAMA scores (p < 0.01). The quality scores of videos released by medical professionals and institutions were significantly higher than those of ordinary users in all assessment tools (p < 0.01). Correlation analysis showed that video quality (GQS, mDISCERN, JAMA) was only weakly or insignificantly correlated with the popularity indicators (likes, followers, etc.), but a positive correlation trend with video duration.

CONCLUSION

The generally suboptimal quality of knee osteoarthritis information on Chinese short-video platforms and its disconnect from popularity metrics highlight a growing public health concern. As short videos increasingly serve as a key source of health information, it is imperative to strengthen content quality oversight. Collaborative efforts among platforms, health authorities, and the public are essential to improve the reliability of online health content and support public access to accurate health information.