Video features
A total of 200 videos met the predefined inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis: 100 from the short-form video-sharing platform in China and 100 from the video sharing platform. Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the videos. The median values for duration, likes, collections, comments20, and shares across all videos on both platforms were 114.00 (62.75, 187.50) s, 1640.50 (66.50, 10277.50), 312.00 (28.75, 2010.50), 109.50 (7.00, 878.50), and 557.50 (42.50, 10160.75), respectively. As the evaluation of video quality, the median scores were as follows: GQS 3 (3–4), mDISCERN 2 (2–3), JAMA 2 (1–3), and VIQI 10 (Table 1). Additionally, with respect to uploader identity, the short-form video-sharing platform in China was dominated by medical personnel and institutions (53%), followed by independent content creators (‘self-media’), including popular science communicators (30%) and news media outlets (17%). In contrast, the distribution on the video-sharing platform comprised self-media (49%), news media accounts (29%), and medical personnel and institutions (22%) (Figure 2). Notably, the self-media included popular-science communicators. The inter-rater reliability was excellent, with Cohen's kappa coefficients of 0.863 for GQS scores, 0.831 for mDISCERN scores, 0.977 for JAMA scores, and 0.803 for VIQI scores.
Video Content
The video content descriptions were shown in Figure 3A–F. Among CHIKF-related videos, clinical presentation was the most frequently covered topic, with 78% of videos focusing on describing signs and symptoms. As an acute arboviral infection, CHIKF typically presents with abrupt high fever, severe polyarthritis, rash, and systemic malaise. The duration and intensity of arthralgia are the primary contributors to morbidity. Clinical symptoms were a major focus in many videos, helping viewers recognize the illness early and anticipate its potential impact on daily functioning and quality of life. Epidemiology, etiology, and preventive measures are the most common themes, appearing in 57.0%, 71.5%, and 71.5% of videos, respectively. The results suggested that public and media attention centers on transmission routes, causal factors, and prevention. CHIKF is mosquito-borne; prevention mainly involves limiting human–mosquito contact and reducing vector populations.
Comparison of videos on different platforms
Significant differences were observed between platforms in engagement metrics, information reliability, and transparency (Table 2). Regarding video duration, a statistically significant difference was observed between the video-sharing platform and the short-form video-sharing platform in China (P = 0.036). However, this difference became non-significant following Holm–Bonferroni correction (PHB = 0.108). For user engagement metrics, the videos from a short-form video-sharing platform in China demonstrated significantly higher counts of likes, collections, comments, and shares than those from the video-sharing platform. The difference remained statistically significant after multiple corrections for statistical significance (PHB < 0.001). The effect size calculations indicated that the discrepancies in the metrics under consideration between the two platforms were medium to large (r > 0.50). This finding suggested that the short-form video-sharing platform in China significantly outperformed the video-sharing platform in dissemination performance and user engagement.
As for the evaluation of information quality, the differences in GQS and VIQI scores between the two platforms were not statistically significant (GQS: PHB = 0.442; VIQI: PHB = 0.725). Regarding the mDISCERN scores, although the median values were identical across the various platforms, the discrepancy remained statistically significant (PHB = 0.019). However, the effect size was negligible (r = 0.200), suggesting that the observed practical differences were minimal. Videos from the short-form video-sharing platform in China had a significantly higher JAMA median score than those from the video-sharing platform. After Holm–Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, the difference remained statistically significant, exhibiting a moderate effect size (r = 0.407).
Overall, the short-form video-sharing platform in China exhibited substantially higher engagement than the video-sharing platform (Figure 4A–D). Regarding information quality, statistically significant differences were observed only in the mDISCERN and JAMA scores, whereas no significant differences were found in the GQS and VIQI scores. This finding suggests that there are more pronounced differences in communication effectiveness between platforms, with relatively limited overall variations in information quality.
Comparison of videos by different uploader types
Significant differences among uploader categories were observed for video duration, GQS, JAMA, and VIQI scores (PHB < 0.001) (Table 3). In contrast, likes, collections, comments, shares, and mDISCERN scores did not differ significantly among uploader groups (PHB > 0.05). Post hoc pairwise comparisons showed that videos posted by news media were significantly shorter than those posted by medical personnel and institutions, and by self-media (PHB < 0.001), whereas no significant difference in duration was found between the latter two groups (PHB = 1.000). For quality-related measures, videos uploaded by medical personnel and institutions received significantly higher GQS and JAMA scores than those uploaded by news media and self-media (PHB < 0.001). No significant difference was found between news media and self-media for either score (PHB = 1.000). For VIQI scores, videos from medical personnel and institutions scored significantly higher than those from news media (PHB = 0.008) and self-media (PHB < 0.001), while the difference between news media and self-media was not significant (PHB = 0.097). Effect size analysis showed that the largest between-group difference was observed for JAMA scores (ε2 = 0.447), followed by GQS (ε2 = 0.242) and VIQI (ε2 = 0.171). Figure 5A–D presents a direct comparison of video quality scores across uploader categories.
Spearman correlation between video characteristics and quality metrics
Spearman correlation analysis revealed strong positive correlations among likes, collections, comments, and shares (ρ = 0.911–0.961, P < 0.001 after FDR correction). Video duration was positively correlated with GQS, mDISCERN, JAMA, and VIQI scores, with the strongest association observed with GQS (ρ = 0.437, P < 0.001 after FDR correction). However, video duration was not significantly correlated with likes, collections, or comments. Significant positive correlations were also found among video quality, information reliability, and transparency measures, especially between GQS and VIQI (ρ = 0.744, P < 0.001 after FDR correction). By contrast, engagement metrics showed weak correlations with information reliability and video quality. Likes and collections were weakly positively correlated with JAMA scores, whereas shares were weakly negatively correlated with mDISCERN scores. No significant correlations were observed between other engagement metrics and video quality or information reliability (P > 0.05 after FDR correction) (Figure 6). Overall, user engagement was not consistently associated with information reliability or video quality, suggesting that higher-quality videos did not necessarily attract greater public engagement. Details of the Spearman analysis were provided in Supplementary File 1.
Multiple linear regression analysis
Categorical variables were dummy-coded prior to regression analysis, with the short-form video-sharing platform in China and news media serving as the reference categories for platform and uploader type, respectively. After adjusting for platform type and uploader category, we employed multiple linear regression to predict video quality and information reliability using metrics such as video engagement. In view of the skewed distributions of video duration and engagement metrics, the relevant continuous variables were subjected to a natural logarithm transformation prior to regression analysis. The transformed variables were subsequently entered into the regression models. We have conducted additional model diagnostics to assess the validity of the regression assumptions. The diagnostic results indicated that the residual distributions were generally consistent with the assumption of normality, and no substantial heteroscedasticity was observed. Meanwhile, no highly influential observations were detected in any of the regression models, indicating that the regression results were not substantially affected by individual extreme observations.
In the GQS scoring model, the overall regression model was statistically significant (R2 = 0.464; adjusted R2 = 0.441; F = 20.655; P < 0.001). The duration and the collections were found to be positive predictors of GQS scores. Conversely, the likes, comments, and shares exhibited no significant association with GQS scores (Table 4). In the mDISCERN scoring model, the overall model was statistically significant (R2 = 0.205, adjusted R2 = 0.172, F = 6.171, P < 0.001). After controlling for platform and uploader identity, video duration emerged as an independent positive predictor of mDISCERN scores, while the number of shares became a negative predictor (Table 5). No other engagement variables were statistically significant. In the JAMA benchmark, the overall model was significant (R2 = 0.543, adjusted R2 = 0.523, F = 28.326, P < 0.001). The number of shares showed a significant negative correlation with the JAMA score (Table 6). No other video duration or engagement variables were statistically significant (P > 0.05). In the VIQI scoring model, the overall model was significant (R2 = 0.390, adjusted R2 = 0.365, F = 15.283, P < 0.001). The duration and the collections were found to be positive predictors of VIQI scores (Table 7). Overall, the main findings of the multivariable linear regression analyses were broadly consistent with those of the Spearman rank correlation analyses.
DATA AVAILABILITY:
The raw data that support the findings of this study are available in Supplementary File 1.

Figure 1: Inclusion and exclusion workflow for videos on CHIKF. Flow diagram of video identification, screening, exclusion, and final inclusion. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 2: The distribution of short video sources. Stacked horizontal bar chart showing the distribution of uploader types on the short-form video-sharing platform in China and the video-sharing platform. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 3: The description of the short video content. (A–F) Six donut charts showing the proportion of the 200 included videos that covered specific chikungunya-related content domains. Red represents videos that included the corresponding topic, whereas blue represents videos that did not. Symptoms were the most frequently covered domain, whereas diagnosis and treatment were addressed less often. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 4: Comparison of video quality scores across platforms. Four plots comparing the distributions of video assessment scores between the short-form video-sharing platform in China and the video-sharing platform. (A) shows GQS scores, (B) shows mDISCERN scores, (C) shows JAMA benchmark scores, and (D) shows VIQI scores. The half-violin shapes represent score density, individual points indicate observed values, and the embedded boxplots summarize the median and interquartile range. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 5: Comparison of video quality scores across uploader categories. Four ridgeline density plots showing the distributions of video assessment scores across uploader types: medical personnel and institutions, self-media, and news media. (A) presents GQS scores, (B) presents mDISCERN scores, (C) presents JAMA benchmark scores, and (D) presents VIQI scores. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.

Figure 6: Correlation matrix between basic video characteristics and quality scores. Correlation heatmap illustrating pairwise Spearman’s correlations among video duration, engagement indicators, and video assessment scores. The comparisons include correlations among engagement metrics, between engagement metrics and assessment scores, between video duration and assessment scores, and among the four assessment instruments. Cell colors and numerical values indicate the direction and strength of each correlation. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
| Variables | Total (n = 200) |
| Duration (s), M (Q₁, Q₃) | 114.00 (62.75, 187.50) |
| Likes, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 1640.50 (66.50, 10277.50) |
| Collections, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 312.00 (28.75, 2010.50) |
| Comments, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 109.50 (7.00, 878.50) |
| Shares, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 557.50 (42.50, 10160.75) |
| GQS scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 3.00 (3.00, 4.00) |
| mDISCERN scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 2.00 (2.00, 3.00) |
| JAMA scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 2.00 (1.00, 3.00) |
| VIQI scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 10.00 (8.00, 11.00) |
Table 1: Characteristics of videos on the two platforms. The table summarizes the descriptive characteristics of the 200 videos included from the two platforms, including video duration, engagement metrics, and quality assessment scores, presented as medians and interquartile ranges.
| Variables | Bilibili (n = 100) | Tiktok (n = 100) | P | r | Median Difference (95% CI) | PHB |
| Duration (s), M (Q₁, Q₃) | 133.00 (62.75, 274.00) | 103.50 (62.25, 156.75) | 0.036 | 0.148 | -29.5 (-63.012, 14.5) | 0.108 |
| Likes, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 73.50 (11.75, 1714.75) | 6146.50 (1305.75, 27738.50) | <0.001 | 0.576 | 6073 (2803.825, 11971.925) | <0.001 |
| Collections, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 48.50 (8.00, 359.00) | 1117.00 (272.75, 4934.00) | <0.001 | 0.569 | 1068.5 (692, 2085.55) | <0.001 |
| Comments, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 12.50 (1.00, 191.75) | 574.00 (66.50, 1677.75) | <0.001 | 0.501 | 561.5 (258.5, 841.012) | <0.001 |
| Shares, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 50.50 (7.75, 593.25) | 5786.00 (485.50, 53615.00) | <0.001 | 0.6 | 5735.5 (2198.487, 19433.588) | <0.001 |
| GQS scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 3.00 (3.00, 4.00) | 4.00 (3.00, 4.00) | 0.221 | 0.087 | 1 (0, 1) | 0.442 |
| mDISCERN scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 2.00 (2.00, 3.00) | 2.00 (2.00, 2.00) | 0.005 | 0.2 | 0 (0, 0) | 0.019 |
| JAMA scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 1.00 (1.00, 2.00) | 2.00 (1.00, 3.00) | <0.001 | 0.407 | 1 (0.5, 2) | <0.001 |
| VIQI scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 10.00 (8.00, 11.00) | 10.00 (8.00, 11.00) | 0.724 | 0.025 | 0 (0, 1) | 0.724 |
Table 2: Detailed comparison of videos on the two platforms. The table compares video duration, engagement metrics, and quality assessment scores between the video-sharing platform and the short-form video-sharing platform in China, including statistical significance, effect sizes, median differences with 95% confidence intervals, and Holm–Bonferroni-adjusted P values.
| Variables | News media (n = 46) | Medical personnel and institution (n = 75) | Self-media (n = 79) | P | PHB | ε² | PN-M | PN-S | PM-S |
| Duration (s), M (Q₁, Q₃) | 65.00 (33.75, 112.25) | 131.00 (75.50, 192.50) | 136.00 (67.00, 238.50) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.108 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 1 |
| Likes, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 2122.00 (283.00, 8605.50) | 1418.00 (227.00, 7194.50) | 1032.00 (14.50, 13114.50) | 0.297 | 1 | 0.002 | - | - | - |
| Collections, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 359.50 (41.50, 1480.75) | 323.00 (50.50, 1717.00) | 249.00 (19.00, 2087.00) | 0.624 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Comments, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 195.50 (11.25, 1202.00) | 112.00 (13.00, 613.00) | 95.00 (3.00, 1068.00) | 0.662 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Shares, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 1448.00 (51.25, 10720.25) | 667.00 (69.50, 6120.50) | 231.00 (22.50, 19528.50) | 0.678 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - |
| GQS scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 3.00 (3.00, 4.00) | 4.00 (4.00, 4.50) | 3.00 (2.00, 4.00) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.242 | <0.001 | 1 | <0.001 |
| mDISCERN scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 2.00 (2.00, 2.00) | 2.00 (2.00, 3.00) | 2.00 (2.00, 3.00) | 0.18 | 0.902 | 0.007 | - | - | - |
| JAMA scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 1.00 (1.00, 2.00) | 3.00 (2.00, 3.00) | 1.00 (1.00, 2.00) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.447 | <0.001 | 1 | <0.001 |
| VIQI scores, M (Q₁, Q₃) | 10.00 (8.00, 11.00) | 11.00 (10.00, 11.50) | 9.00 (7.50, 10.00) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.171 | 0.008 | 0.097 | <0.001 |
Table 3: Detailed comparison of videos across uploader categories. The table compares video duration, engagement metrics, and quality assessment scores across the three uploader categories, including overall group differences, effect sizes, Holm–Bonferroni-adjusted P values, and post hoc pairwise comparisons.
| Variable | Estimate(B) | Standard error | t | P | 95% CI for B |
| Platform (Bilibili vs Tiktok) | 0.059 | 0.156 | 0.375 | 0.708 | (−0.250, 0.367) |
| Uploader (Medical personnel and institution vs News media) | 0.433 | 0.167 | 2.591 | 0.01 | (0.103, 0.763) |
| Uploader (Self-media vs News media) | -0.653 | 0.159 | −4.117 | <0.001 | ( −0.965, −0.340) |
| Duration (s) | 0.498 | 0.07 | 7.119 | <0.001 | (0.360, 0.636) |
| Likes | -0.076 | 0.081 | −0.943 | 0.347 | (−0.235, 0.083) |
| Comments | -0.094 | 0.065 | −1.443 | 0.151 | (−0.222, 0.034) |
| Collections | 0.234 | 0.092 | 2.546 | 0.012 | (0.053, 0.415) |
| Shares | -0.023 | 0.062 | −0.367 | 0.714 | (−0.145, 0.09) |
Table 4: Multivariate linear regression analysis results for GQS scores. The table presents the results of a multivariable linear regression model examining factors associated with GQS scores, adjusted for platform and uploader category.
| Variable | Estimate( B) | Standard error | t | P | 95% CI for B |
| Platform (Bilibili vs Tiktok) | 0.239 | 0.156 | 1.529 | 0.128 | (−0.069, 0.546) |
| Uploader (Medical personnel and institution vs News media) | 0.022 | 0.167 | 0.13 | 0.897 | (−0.307, 0.351) |
| Uploader (Self-media vs News media) | -0.038 | 0.158 | −0.242 | 0.809 | (−0.350, 0.274) |
| Duration (s) | 0.289 | 0.07 | 4.138 | <0.001 | (0.151, 0.427) |
| Likes | 0.049 | 0.08 | 0.606 | 0.545 | (−0.110, 0.207) |
| Comments | 0.023 | 0.065 | 0.359 | 0.72 | (−0.104, 0.151) |
| Collections | 0.13 | 0.092 | 1.418 | 0.158 | (−0.051, 0.311) |
| Shares | -0.15 | 0.062 | −2.426 | 0.016 | (−0.272, −0.028) |
Table 5: Multivariate linear regression analysis results for mDISCERN scores. The table presents the results of a multivariable linear regression model examining factors associated with mDISCERN scores, adjusted for platform and uploader category.
| Variable | Estimate (B) | Standard error | t | P | 95% CI for B |
| Platform (Bilibili vs Tiktok) | −0.393 | 0.121 | −3.262 | 0.001 | (−0.631,−0.155) |
| Uploader (Medical personnel and institution vs News media) | 0.996 | 0.129 | 7.729 | <0.001 | ( 0.742,1.250) |
| Uploader (Self-media vs News media) | 0.046 | 0.122 | 0.378 | 0.706 | (−0.195,0.287) |
| Duration (s) | 0.102 | 0.054 | 1.886 | 0.061 | (−0.005,0.208) |
| Likes | 0.118 | 0.062 | 1.902 | 0.059 | (−0.004,0.240) |
| Comments | −0.027 | 0.05 | −0.535 | 0.593 | ( −0.126,0.072) |
| Collections | 0.026 | 0.071 | 0.363 | 0.717 | ( −0.114, 0.165) |
| Shares | −0.096 | 0.048 | −2.003 | 0.047 | (−0.190,−0.001) |
Table 6: Multivariate linear regression analysis results for JAMA scores. The table presents the results of a multivariable linear regression model examining factors associated with JAMA scores, adjusted for platform and uploader category.
| Variable | Estimate (B) | Standard error | t | P | 95% CI for B |
| Platform (Bilibili vs Tiktok) | 0.244 | 0.345 | 0.709 | 0.479 | (−0.436,0.924) |
| Uploader (Medical personnel and institution vs News media) | 0.261 | 0.369 | 0.708 | 0.48 | (−0.466,0.988) |
| Uploader (Self-media vs News media) | −1.698 | 0.349 | −4.859 | <0.001 | (−2.388,−1.009) |
| Duration (s) | 0.884 | 0.154 | 5.73 | <0.001 | ( 0.580,1.189) |
| Likes | −0.009 | 0.177 | −0.054 | 0.957 | (−0.360,0.341) |
| Comments | −0.209 | 0.143 | −1.457 | 0.147 | (−0.491,0.074) |
| Collections | 0.55 | 0.202 | 2.719 | 0.007 | ( 0.151,0.950) |
| Shares | −0.207 | 0.137 | −1.518 | 0.131 | (−0.477,0.062) |
Table 7: Multivariate linear regression analysis results for VIQI scores. The table presents the results of a multivariable linear regression model examining factors associated with VIQI scores, adjusted for platform and uploader category.
Supplementary File 1: Raw data. The five-point GQS and the corresponding criteria. The five-item mDISCERN criteria are used to assess the reliability of video information, with one point awarded for each criterion met, for a total score ranging from 0 to 5. The four JAMA benchmark criteria used to assess the transparency of video information, including authorship, attribution, currency, and disclosure, with one point awarded for each criterion met. The scoring criteria for the four components of the VIQI: information flow, information accuracy, visual quality, and consistency between the video title and content. Each component is scored from 1 to 5 to evaluate the overall informational and presentation quality of the videos. The Spearman correlation analysis examining pairwise associations among video duration, engagement metrics, and quality assessment scores, with correlation coefficients, 95% confidence intervals, unadjusted P value, and false discovery rate-adjusted P value reported.Please click here to download this file.