Quality and reliability of Mandarin-language ischemic stroke-related videos on TikTok and Bilibili: A cross-sectional content analysis study

Social media platforms have become important channels for public access to health information. Recent studies have evaluated stroke-related videos on TikTok, Bilibili, and other platforms; however, evidence focusing specifically on Mandarin-language ischemic stroke-related videos remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate the content, quality, and reliability of Mandarin-language ischemic stroke-related videos on TikTok and Bilibili. In this cross-sectional study, the quality and reliability of Mandarin-language ischemic stroke-related videos on TikTok and Bilibili were evaluated on October 2, 2025. Video duration, engagement metrics, and uploader identity were collected. The Global Quality Scale (GQS) and modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) tools were used to assess video quality and reliability. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for group comparisons, and Spearman rank correlation was used for correlation analysis. A total of 186 videos were included. The videos primarily focused on clinical manifestations (21.33%) and treatment (18.86%), with limited content on prognosis (9.35%). The median GQS score was 3.0 (interquartile range: 2.0-3.0), and the median mDISCERN score was 2.0 (interquartile range: 2.0-3.0). There were no significant differences in GQS and mDISCERN scores between platforms (P > .05). Videos uploaded by specialized healthcare professionals had the highest GQS and mDISCERN scores (P < .05). There was no correlation between engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares) and video quality (P > .05). The overall quality of ischemic stroke-related short videos on social media platforms is suboptimal, and professional background significantly influences video quality and reliability. Future efforts should strengthen content supervision on platforms and optimize health information dissemination strategies to enhance the accuracy of ischemic stroke-related video content.