The quality and reliability of short videos on acute myeloid leukemia on Bilibili and TikTok: A cross-sectional study

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a life-threatening hematological malignancy. With the rapid development of short video platforms, TikTok and Bilibili have become important sources of health information; however, the quality and reliability of AML-related content remain unclear. This study aims to evaluate the content, quality, and reliability of short AML videos on these platforms. The top 150 AML-related videos were collected from each platform using default ranking. Video quality was assessed using 3 validated instruments: the global quality score, modified DISCERN, and the Journal of American Medical Association benchmark. The correlations between user engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares, and favorites) and quality scores were also analyzed. In total, 176 videos were included. Most videos focused on treatment (TikTok and Bilibili: 31.6% and 36.1%, respectively) and prognosis (TikTok and Bilibili: 24.4% vs 17.3%, respectively), while pathogeny and clinical manifestations were insufficiently covered. The overall quality was modest: global quality score median 3.00 (interquartile range [IQR]: 2.00-4.00), modified DISCERN median 2.00 (IQR: 1.00-3.00), and Journal of American Medical Association median 2.00 (IQR: 2.00-3.00). TikTok videos demonstrated a significantly higher engagement than Bilibili videos (P < .05), whereas Bilibili videos were longer (P < .05). Videos uploaded by hematologists received the highest scores across all 3 tools (all P < .001) but showed relatively low user engagement. No correlation was found between engagement metrics and quality scores (P > .05). Short video platforms have become an important source of AML information; however, their overall content quality is limited. Videos created by hematologists are the most reliable; however, user engagement does not reflect information quality. Professional physicians should be encouraged to actively participate in science communication, and platform regulations and algorithm optimization should be strengthened to promote the dissemination of high-quality information.