The Current State of Internet Videos Related to Spinal diseases in Mainland China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Information about spinal diseases on the internet has not been extensively assessed. Our purpose was to collect and evaluate the online information of spinal diseases on common video-sharing platforms in mainland China. Method: Three video-sharing platforms (Toutiao, Bilibili and TikTok) was independently queried for 10 common spinal diseases from April to May 2023 by three independent researchers using the Microsoft Edge web browser. Information about the videos and creators was recorded, and descriptive analyses of the overall and first 25 results were conducted. Results: Totally 10,143 search results were retrieved by searching 10 spinal-related terms (6154 from Bilibili, 1884 from Toutiao, 2105 from TikTok). In the first 25 search results of 10 searched terms, a total of 270 videos (36.0%) were uploaded by certified orthopedic surgeons, with 222 videos (29.6%) uploaded by senior professional titles. 88% of the videos contained content of popular introduction (n = 660), while professional knowledge accounts for 47.9% (n = 359). Among them, diagnosis was the most content (23.9%, n = 179), and surgical technique was the least (2.9%, n = 22). Videos from TikTok contained higher proportion of certified orthopedic surgeons (77.6%), senior professional titles (69.2%) and professional knowledge (90.4%) than the other two video-sharing platforms. Conclusion: Videos about spinal diseases on current video-sharing platforms are extensive but not comprehensive and professional, while the videos on TikTok may have relatively higher quality and accuracy. The proportion of certified orthopedic surgeons and professional knowledge is still low. The management and censorship need to be further improved to solve the problem of low-quality and attract more orthopedic surgeons to participate in online video creation.