The reliability and quality of short videos as health information of guidance for bowel sounds: a cross-sectional study

Jin Zhang¹Zun Chen^2,3Liang Shan⁴Sida Liu^2,3Dong Liu^2,3Fei Xue^2,3Qingfang Yue⁵Yuting Wang⁶Jinping Zhang^2,3,6Yuling Wu⁷Bopeng Chen⁸Xianglong Duan^10,2,3,6,9*

• ¹Clinical Nutrition Department, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ²Second Department of General Surgery, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ³Second Department of General Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
• ⁴Medical Service, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ⁵Department of Oncology, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ⁶Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Medical Polymer Materials, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ⁷Scientific Research Departmen, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ⁸Transplant Urology Department, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'An, China
• ⁹Shaanxi International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Clinical Medicine, Xi'an, China
• ¹⁰Institute of Medical Research, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China

Background: Bowel sounds are a valuable indicator of monitoring and reflecting intestinal motility. Information about bowel sounds is significant for assessing physical condition. Short video-sharing platforms facilitate such information but must be validated regarding the quality and reliability of the content. Objective: This study aimed to assess the reliability and quality of bowel sounds-related information available on Chinese short video-sharing platforms. Methods: A total of 132 video samples were collected on the three most popular Chinese video sharing platforms: TikTok, Bilibili, and WeChat. Each video was assessed by two independent physicians in terms of content comprehensiveness, quality (using the Global Quality Score) and reliability (using the DISCERN tool). Furthermore, comparisons were made across different video sources. Results: Out of 132 videos analyzed, 78 (59.09%) were uploaded by medical professionals, including gastroenterologists, non-gastroenterologists, and clinical nutritionists, while 54 (40.91%) were shared by non-medical professionals such as science bloggers, nonprofit organizations and patients. Gastroenterologists-uploaded videos received the highest engagement, with median likes of 150 (IQR: 31–1198), favorites of 90 (IQR: 19–412) and share of 50 (14-225). And in general, Medical professionals'videos generally showed higher engagement, particularly those by Gastroenterologists, compared to non-medical professionals. The median The GQS and modified DISCERN tool were used to assess video quality and reliability respectively, with medical professionals scoring higher on both metrics (z=4.448, p<0.001; z=2.209, p<0.05). GQS score and DISCERN score was 2 for bowel sounds videos analyzed in this study. Videos from gastroenterologists had the highest GQS scores, with a median of 3. However, the DISCERN score of gastroenterologists needs to be improved. Conclusion: The study shows that medical professionals generally provide better and more accurate results than non-professionals. Videos uploaded by clinical nutritionists offer more comprehensive health education and treatment options. To ensure public access to reliable information, it's important to encourage medical professionals to produce the videos and also basic standards must be established.