Quality and reliability of hyperlipidemia-related short videos on mainstream social media platforms: a cross-sectional study

Amid the rising prevalence of hyperlipidemia in China, the public's growing reliance on unregulated short-video platforms poses a significant risk of misinformation. This study systematically evaluated the quality of 233 hyperlipidemia-related videos across TikTok, Bilibili, and RedNote, platforms selected for their distinct content formats, audience profiles, and information environments. Video quality was assessed using the Global Quality Score (GQS), reliability with modified DISCERN and JAMA benchmarks, and educational value with the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT); content completeness was also scored. Overall video quality was moderate, with significant disparities observed across platforms and creator types. Bilibili videos offered greater comprehensiveness (higher GQS and content completeness), while TikTok and RedNote content was more understandable. Science communicators produced the highest overall quality videos, whereas physicians excelled in reliability. Critically, user engagement metrics like 'likes' showed virtually no correlation with video quality (|ρ|≤ 0.09). In contrast, content completeness was a strong independent predictor of higher quality (OR 1.59), underscoring its importance over popularity. In conclusion, the quality of hyperlipidemia videos on Chinese platforms is inconsistent, and popular videos are not necessarily reliable. This highlights a critical need for platforms to shift from popularity-based algorithms to ones that prioritize creator expertise and content completeness, and for healthcare professionals and science communicators to collaborate on producing scientifically accurate yet accessible content.