The quality of video information related to smoking cessation on mainstream short-video platforms in China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Tobacco use remains one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide. Social short-video platforms have become the primary channel through which the public obtains smoking-cessation information. Grounded in the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study evaluates the information quality of smoking-cessation short videos on Chinese short-video platforms.

METHODS

We analyzed 262 video samples from four major platforms-TikTok, Kwai, Bilibili, and BuzzVideo. Two researchers who received standardized training independently evaluated each video using the Medical Quality Video Evaluation Tool (MQ-VET), the Global Quality Scale (GQS), and the mDISCERN score. Finally, we performed multiple linear regression to identify factors influencing video quality and user interaction.

RESULTS

Of the 262 videos included, only 17.6% were produced by medical experts. Overall information quality was low: median MQ-VET was 44 (41-47), median GQS was 2 (2-3), and median mDISCERN was 2 (1-2). In multivariable regression, videos produced by Medical experts (β = 0.586, p < 0.001) and by Public welfare organizations (β = 0.130, p = 0.001) had significantly higher quality than those produced by Individual users. For user engagement, measured by number of likes, information quality (MQ-VET) (β = 0.215, p = 0.009), TikTok as the platform (β = 0.358, p < 0.001), and Bilibili as the platform (β = 0.485, p < 0.001) were significant positive predictors. Quality scores correlated positively with user interaction (ρ = 0.14-0.35, p < 0.005), whereas video duration correlated negatively with interaction (ρ = -0.14 to -0.29, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Content about smoking cessation on mainstream Chinese short-video platforms is predominantly user-generated, and it is often fragmented, scientifically weak, and lacking elements of behavior-change psychology. Despite these shortcomings, high-quality videos still attract substantial user engagement. To harness the broad reach of these platforms, we propose constructing a four-party cooperation framework among government, platforms, experts, and users grounded in the "Healthy China 2030" initiative, establishing a quality-certification system, and incentivizing medical experts to produce rigorous, high-quality content.