Quality and engagement of rosacea-related short videos on Chinese platforms RedNote and TikTok: a cross-sectional analysis

Abstract Background Rosacea is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin disease. This study aimed to evaluate the quality, characteristics, and user engagement of rosacea-related short videos on the Chinese platforms RedNote and TikTok, and to explore associations between engagement indicators and video quality. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on Chinese-language rosacea-related videos retrieved from RedNote and TikTok on April 14, 2026. Video characteristics, user types, and engagement indicators (likes, favorites, comments, and shares) were recorded. Video quality was assessed using the modified development of a quality index for health information (mDISCERN), global quality score (GQS), and video information and quality index (VIQI). Spearman correlation analysis was performed to assess associations between engagement indicators and quality scores. Results A total of 405 videos were included (98 RedNote, 307 TikTok). TikTok had a higher proportion of videos uploaded by medical personnel and achieved higher mDISCERN and total VIQI scores than RedNote, whereas GQS scores were similar between platforms. Overall video quality on both platforms was medium to low. Large effect sizes in mDISCERN and total VIQI scores were observed between medical and non-medical uploaders. Four engagement indicators were strongly positively correlated with each other. Total VIQI score was strongly positively correlated with all engagement indicators and mDISCERN score, but only weakly correlated with GQS score. Conclusion Rosacea-related video quality on TikTok is better than RedNote, but both are suboptimal. Medical uploaders produce higher-quality content, highlighting the need to promote evidence-based, professionally generated, and engaging rosacea content on short-video platforms.