IgA nephropathy-related short videos on TikTok and Bilibili provided only moderate-quality medical information overall, according to a new cross-sectional study that highlighted major gaps in disease education and inconsistent accuracy across platforms.
IgA Nephropathy and Online Health Information
IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger’s disease, is a chronic kidney condition caused by deposits of immunoglobulin A in the kidneys, leading to inflammation and progressive renal damage.
As more patients turned to short-form video platforms for health information, researchers investigated whether the content available offered reliable and comprehensive guidance.
Nephropathy Videos Showed Moderate Educational Quality
Researchers analysed 186 short videos identified using the keyword “IgA nephropathy” across TikTok and Bilibili, a major Chinese video-sharing platform.
Video quality was assessed using several recognised scoring systems, including the Global Quality Scale (GQS), modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria, and the Video Information and Quality Index (VIQI).
Overall, the videos demonstrated moderate quality, although substantial variation was observed between creators and platforms.
Videos uploaded by healthcare personnel consistently achieved significantly higher scores for reliability and educational quality compared with those produced by individual users.
Monologue-style presentations also performed better than other formats, suggesting that direct explanations from professionals may improve public understanding of IgA nephropathy.
TikTok Outperformed Bilibili
TikTok videos achieved significantly higher VIQI visual presentation scores than those on Bilibili and also generated greater user engagement through likes, comments, and shares. Researchers identified moderate-to-strong positive correlations between engagement metrics and both GQS and VIQI scores, indicating that better-presented videos tended to attract more interaction.
However, no significant association was found between engagement and mDISCERN or JAMA scores, suggesting that popularity did not necessarily reflect medical accuracy or reliability.
Key Information Was Often Missing
The study found that most videos focused heavily on treatment and prognosis, while essential information regarding disease causes and financial burden remained limited.
Researchers warned that these omissions could restrict the public’s broader understanding of IgA nephropathy and long-term disease management.
The authors also noted that insufficient involvement from healthcare professionals may contribute to misinformation or incomplete education online.
Improving Short-Form Health Education
The researchers concluded that increasing healthcare professional participation, improving visual communication, and strengthening platform recommendation systems could enhance the educational value of short-form medical videos.
While short video platforms may offer accessible ways to educate patients with IgA nephropathy, the findings suggested that content quality remains inconsistent and requires closer oversight to support effective public health communication.
Reference
Fu J et al. A cross-sectional study on the quality of IgA nephropathy videos on short video platforms. Sci Rep. 2026;DOI:10.1038/s41598-026-52584-7.
Featured image: Natalia on Adobe Stock
