Quality and Reliability Evaluation of Mechanical Ventilation-Related Video Content on Short-Video Platforms: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Background Mechanical ventilation is a core life-support technology in intensive care units. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the public's demand for science popularization of such medical knowledge has risen significantly. Short-video platforms have become important carriers for health science popularization, yet the quality of relevant health popularization content varies greatly, and there remains a lack of systematic evaluation on the quality and reliability of mechanical ventilation-related videos. Objective This study aimed to systematically evaluate the quality, reliability and completeness of mechanical ventilation-related videos on three major short-video platforms: Bilibili, TikTok and WeChat Channels. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2025 to analyze 157 mechanical ventilation-related videos from the three major Chinese short-video platforms. The Global Quality Scale (GQS), modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) and a self-designed completeness scale were used to assess the quality, reliability and completeness of the videos. Meanwhile, user interaction indicators including video duration, number of likes, comments and favorites were collected, and statistical analyses were performed to explore the correlations among various video variables. Results A total of 157 mechanical ventilation-related videos were included. The median scores of GQS, mDISCERN and completeness were 3 (interquartile range, IQR: 3–3), 3 (IQR: 2–3) and 2 (IQR: 1–3) respectively, with only 3.2% of the videos containing complete content. Significant inter-platform differences were observed: Bilibili had the optimal content completeness ( P  < 0.05), and its GQS score was comparable to that of WeChat Channels and significantly higher than that of TikTok( P  < 0.01); TikTok showed the highest mDISCERN score, user interaction level and proportion of certified publishers ( p  < 0.01). The scores of videos released by professionally certified publishers were significantly higher than those by non-certified ones ( P  < 0.05). Positive correlations were found between GQS and mDISCERN scores, between video duration and GQS score, and between the number of likes and mDISCERN score (all P  < 0.05). Conclusion Mechanical ventilation science popularization videos on the three short-video platforms were of moderate overall quality with insufficient content completeness, and significant differences existed across the platforms: Bilibili had better content completeness, TikTok featured higher user interaction and a larger proportion of certified publishers, and WeChat Channels had acceptable reliability but poor content completeness. Videos released by professionally certified publishers were of higher quality. It is necessary to strengthen platform regulation and professional review to improve the quality of medical science popularization content.