Short video platforms as sources of health information about HPV vaccine: A content and quality analysis

Background Numerous HPV vaccine-related videos are available on Kwai, Bilibili, and TikTok; however, their quality and professionalism vary considerably. This study evaluates the quality and reliability of HPV vaccine-related videos on these platforms to offer Chinese-speaking users a reference for informed vaccination decisions. Method A keyword search for the top 100 relevant videos on “HPV vaccine” was performed on Kwai, Bilibili, and TikTok, yielding a total of 238 eligible videos. A comparative analysis was conducted on video characteristics, uploader profiles, content categories, uploader attitudes, and public responses. The Global Quality Score (GQS) and the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) instrument were applied to assess video quality and reliability. Result TikTok had the highest median number of likes (1744.5) and shares (1338), while Bilibili led in median comments (179.25) and favorites (527). Public support for the HPV vaccine was highest on Kwai (63.2%), whereas TikTok showed notable opposition (15.8%). Interestingly, only Bilibili lacked a neutral stance. The proportion of physician uploaders was highest on TikTok (61.8%), whereas Bilibili had the largest share of self-media contributors (66.3%). Among professional uploaders, 92.3% supported the HPV vaccine, and their videos received 55.4% public approval—significantly higher than the 34.6% for individual users ( p = 0.021). Significant differences in mDISCERN scores were observed across all three platforms (all pairwise comparisons, p < 0.001). Conclusion Videos uploaded by professionals tend to have higher engagement and greater informational reliability, making them more effective in promoting public support for vaccination. TikTok videos scored highest on both GQS and mDISCERN metrics and had the largest proportion of professional uploaders, indicating superior overall quality and reliability. These findings should be interpreted within the context of the mainland-Chinese short-video ecosystem and may not be generalizable to non-Chinese-speaking populations.