The quality and reliability of short videos about amblyopia on Bilibili and TikTok: A cross-sectional study

Background With the rise of short video platforms, TikTok and Bilibili have become major sources of health information for the public. This study aimed to evaluate the content, quality, and reliability of amblyopia-related videos. Methods Using “amblyopia” as the keyword, we collected the video content, engagement metrics, video duration, and uploaders identity of the top 150 default-ranked videos on both platforms. The Global Quality Score (GQS) and the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) tool were used to assess video quality and reliability. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were then used for group comparisons, and Spearman correlation was used for correlation analysis. Results A total of 199 videos were included. TikTok videos were significantly shorter than Bilibili videos. TikTok demonstrated considerably higher user engagement across likes, comments, collections and shares. Video content mainly focused on treatment (88.44%), while etiology (39.70%) and prevention (40.70%) were less discussed. The median GQS score was 3.00 (IQR: 2.00–3.00), and the median mDISCERN score was 3.00 (IQR: 2.00–3.00). No differences were found between platforms in GQS and mDISCERN ( p > 0.05). Videos uploaded by specialists with a median GQS score of 4.00 (IQR: 3.00–4.00) and a median mDISCERN score of 3.00 (IQR: 3.00–4.00) outperformed those uploaded by non-specialists and individual users on both GQS and mDISCERN ( p < 0.05). Video duration showed a weak positive correlation with quality ( p < 0.05). Engagement metrics were not correlated with GQS or mDISCERN ( p > 0.05). Conclusion The quality and reliability of amblyopia-related videos were suboptimal, with diagnosis and prevention receiving insufficient attention. Videos uploaded by specialists had the highest quality and reliability. Strengthening content review and oversight and encouraging greater participation of specialists in amblyopia science communication are needed to improve the quality of health information on short video platforms.