Assessing the Quality and Reliability of Colorectal Cancer–Related Short Videos on TikTok and Bilibili: A Cross-Sectional Study
This cross-sectional study evaluating 182 colorectal cancer-related short videos on TikTok and Bilibili found that while overall content quality is moderate, videos by surgeons demonstrate higher reliability and transparency than those by individual users, highlighting a critical need for increased professional participation and platform oversight to improve the scientific rigor of online health information.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine the internet as a massive, bustling library where anyone can shout out a fact, tell a story, or sell a product. In this library, there's a special section dedicated to health, specifically about a sneaky disease called colorectal cancer. This disease is a major health challenge worldwide, often hiding in the early stages before it becomes serious. Because it's so common and can be prevented or caught early, knowing the right facts is like having a superpower. However, in our digital library, the "books" are actually short, snappy videos on apps like TikTok and Bilibili. These platforms are like the library's most popular, noisy hallways where people scroll quickly, looking for entertainment or quick answers. The big question scientists have been asking is: If you walk into this noisy hallway looking for life-saving advice, are you getting a clear, accurate map, or just a confusing, possibly wrong sketch? This study dives into that exact question, treating these short videos not just as entertainment, but as potential health guides that need to be checked for quality.
The researchers decided to play detective and investigate 182 of these colorectal cancer videos found on TikTok and Bilibili. They didn't just watch them for fun; they used three specific "report cards" to grade them. One report card, called the Global Quality Score (GQS), checked how useful and clear the video was overall. Another, the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), looked at how reliable the information was, checking if the creator cited sources and admitted when they weren't sure about something. The third, the JAMA benchmark, checked if the video was honest about who made it and when.
Here is what they found: The videos were okay, but not great. On a scale where 5 is perfect, the average video got a "C" grade, hovering around a 3.0 for overall quality and a 2.0 for reliability. It turns out that just because a video gets a lot of "likes," comments, or shares, it doesn't mean the information inside is good. The study found a very weak link between how popular a video was and how accurate it was. It's like a loud, flashy billboard that gets everyone's attention but might be selling a product that doesn't work.
The researchers also noticed some interesting patterns about who was making the videos. Videos made by actual colorectal surgeons were significantly more reliable and transparent than those made by regular people (individual users). While the "regular people" videos were often longer and took up a huge chunk of the content (about 39% of all videos), they tended to be less trustworthy. Interestingly, the platform mattered too. Videos on TikTok were much shorter (around 96 seconds on average) but got way more attention than the longer videos on Bilibili (which averaged over 524 seconds). TikTok videos were also better at being transparent about who made them.
However, there was a big gap in what the videos actually talked about. Most of the content (about 64%) was focused on how to treat the cancer or how to diagnose it. But the most important parts—how to prevent it, what causes it, and how to screen for it early—were largely ignored, making up less than 20% of the content. It's like having a library full of books on how to fix a broken car, but almost no books on how to change the oil or drive safely to avoid breaking it in the first place.
In the end, the study suggests that while these short-video platforms are great for spreading health information quickly, they need a serious upgrade. The authors argue that we can't just trust the "likes" to tell us what's true. Instead, we need more doctors and experts to jump in and create content, and the platforms themselves need to do a better job of making sure the information is accurate and balanced. Until then, viewers should be careful: a viral video isn't necessarily a medical prescription.
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