ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Human Factors and Digital Health
The Impact of Algorithm-Driven Exposure to Disease-Related Short Videos on Rehabilitation Outcomes in Lumbar disc herniation Patients: Content Heterogeneity and Psychological Mediating Mechanisms
Yiping Tong 1
Yang Li 1
Chenxi Liu 1
Xiang Chen 1
Linbo Xing 1
Zhiyuan Cao 2
Yanlei Wang 1
1. Luoyang Orthopedic Traumatological Hospital, Luoyang, China
2. Henan University Henan Provincial Center for Applied Mathematics, Henan, China
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Abstract
Background: Short videos have become a primary channel for Lumbar Disc Herniation (LDH) patients to obtain disease knowledge and rehabilitation guidance. Algorithm-driven personalized recommendations may expose patients to heterogeneous LDH-related content, affecting their health anxiety and rehabilitation trajectories. Objective: This study explored the impacts of LDH-related short video exposure duration and content types on health anxiety and lumbar functional rehabilitation in LDH patients, and verified the mediating role of health anxiety. Methods: A 6-month prospective cohort study enrolled 213 LDH outpatients from Luoyang Orthopedic-Traumatological Hospital (Jan–Apr 2025). Demographic, clinical and short video usage data were collected. Health anxiety (MCQ-HA) and lumbar function (JOA) were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, subgroup analysis and Bootstrap mediation analysis (5,000 resamplings) were used. Results:At 6-month follow-up, the mean JOA score decreased from 23.00 ± 1.59 at baseline to 21.96 ± 3.03, and the mean MCQ-HA score increased from 20.77 ± 4.57 to 21.86 ± 6.14. Pearson correlation analysis showed that daily viewing duration and exposure frequency to awareness-motivation content were significantly negatively correlated with ΔJOA (r = –0.36, r = –0.33; both P < 0.001) and positively correlated with ΔMCQ-HA (r = 0.31, r = 0.34; both P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression indicated that ΔJOA in the >60 minutes daily viewing group was significantly lower than that in the <30 minutes group; exposure frequency to awareness-motivation content was independently negatively associated with ΔJOA and positively associated with ΔMCQ-HA (both P < 0.001), with no significant associations found for other content categories (all P > 0.05). Subgroup analysis based on clinical efficacy criteria revealed significant differences in recovery outcomes across viewing duration groups (χ² = 18.75, P = 0.004). Bootstrap mediation analysis confirmed that ΔMCQ-HA mediated 16.13% of the total effect of daily viewing duration on ΔJOA and 20.80% of the total effect of awareness-motivation content exposure frequency on ΔJOA. Conclusion: Prolonged short video exposure and frequent awareness-motivation content viewing were associated with poorer rehabilitation and higher health anxiety, with health anxiety partially mediating these relationships, providing empirical evidence for digital health guidance.
Summary
Keywords
Health anxiety3, Lumbar DiscmHerniation (LDH)4, Lumbar functional rehabilitation5, Recommendation algorithm1, short videos2
Received
24 December 2025
Accepted
10 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Tong, Li, Liu, Chen, Xing, Cao and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Linbo Xing; Zhiyuan Cao; Yanlei Wang
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