Evaluation of Social Media Short‐Form Video Content for Patient Education on Vision‐Threatening Diseases

Purpose The rapid spread of unreliable misinformation on vision‐threatening diseases can significantly affect the eye health behaviors and outcomes of the patients consuming short‐form social media content. This study evaluates short‐form videos pertaining to vision‐threatening diseases to quantify video quality, content, and popularity. Methods This cross‐sectional study analyzed short‐form videos on cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age‐related macular degeneration from TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. A hashtag search identified the first fifty videos on each disease from each social media platform. Two reviewers evaluated them, resolving discrepancies with a third. Outcome measures included number of views, likes, comments, uploader source, content type, modified DISCERN score (0–5 scale), and global quality scale (GQS) score (1–5 scale). Engagement outcomes were summarized descriptively using medians and interquartile ranges, while reliability and quality outcomes were analyzed using one‐way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc comparisons. Results TikTok videos demonstrated higher median engagement (views, likes, and comments) compared to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Videos on cataracts had higher engagement statistics compared to the other vision‐threatening diseases across all platforms. Physicians were the most common video source (45%). The most common content categories were treatments/management (36%) and general symptoms (22%). YouTube Shorts had a significantly greater average DISCERN (2.93 ± 0.70) and GQS score (3.85 ± 1.26) than Instagram Reels and TikTok ( p < 0.001). Videos from patients had the lowest mean DISCERN and GQS scores. Conclusions TikTok had the greatest median engagement levels, while YouTube Shorts had the greatest mean quality and reliability. Videos from patients and philanthropists had lower quality scores, while healthcare professionals and organizations had the highest. Future efforts should understand the patients’ perspectives, address misinformation, and improve quality across all social media platforms.