The Quality and Reliability of Short Videos About Melasma on TikTok and Bilibili: A Cross-Sectional Study

Melasma is a common chronic hyperpigmentation disorder that substantially impairs patients' quality of life. With the rapid growth of short-video platforms such as TikTok and Bilibili, an increasing number of patients are turning to these media for health-related information. This study aimed to evaluate the quality and reliability of melasma-related videos available on TikTok and Bilibili.

Between August 17 and 19, 2025, we searched Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) and Bilibili using the Chinese keyword "" ("melasma"), and included the top 150 videos under each platform's default comprehensive ranking. The search and analysis were conducted in Chinese, reflecting the linguistic and geographical context of mainland China. Video characteristics and engagement metrics were recorded. The quality and reliability of the videos were independently evaluated by two researchers using the Global Quality Score (GQS) and the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) instrument.

A total of 237 videos were included in this study. Content was dominated by clinical manifestations (46.8%), etiology (44.3%), and diagnosis (40.1%), whereas treatment-related content was markedly underrepresented (9.7%). The median video length was 127.00 s (70.75-270.50) on Bilibili and 47.00 s (35.00-96.00) on TikTok. TikTok videos achieved significantly higher engagement than Bilibili (p < 0.05). Overall video quality was moderate, with both GQS and mDISCERN showing a median score of 3.00 (IQR: 2.00-4.00). The mDISCERN score of Bilibili videos was 3.00 (3.00-4.00), significantly higher than TikTok (p < 0.05). Videos uploaded by healthcare professionals scored 3.00 (3.00-4.00) on GQS and 3.00 (2.00-4.00) on mDISCERN, both significantly higher than those uploaded by non-healthcare professionals (p < 0.05).

This study found that melasma-related short videos presented an incomplete content structure, with treatment-related information being markedly underrepresented. The overall quality of the videos was moderate, whereas those produced by healthcare professionals demonstrated higher quality and reliability. Future efforts should encourage greater participation from healthcare professionals and the implementation of refined content strategies, with the aim of improving both the quality and educational value of dermatology-related short video resources.