The quality and reliability of short videos about choledocholithiasis on TikTok and Bilibili in China

BACKGROUND: Choledocholithiasis, a disease with a rising incidence and potential for severe complications, has prompted many to seek health information online. TikTok and Bilibili have emerged as key platforms for disseminating such information. This study evaluates the quality and reliability of short videos on choledocholithiasis on these platforms. METHODS: This study analyzed the top 100 choledocholithiasis-related videos from TikTok and Bilibili. The Global Quality Score (GQS), modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) tool, and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) criteria were employed to assess video quality. Cohen's Kappa coefficient is used to assess inter-rater agreement.Group comparisons were conducted using Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, while Spearman's correlation was utilized for correlation analysis. RESULTS: A total of 170 videos were included, predominantly uploaded by hepatobiliary surgeons. The content of these videos mainly focuses on treatment (81.76%), with limited coverage of etiology and diagnosis. The overall video quality was mediocre, with median scores of 3 for GQS (IQR: 3.00-4.00), 2 for mDISCERN (IQR: 2.00-2.00), and 2 for JAMA (IQR: 2.00-2.00). Videos from hepatobiliary surgeons generally exhibited superior quality. Notably, video quality showed no correlation with engagement metrics. CONCLUSIONS: The content of choledocholithiasis-related videos is structurally deficient. The videos' quality, reliability, and transparency are relatively poor, though those uploaded by hepatobiliary surgeons stand out for their superior quality and reliability. Importantly, video quality is independent of engagement metrics.