How parents of children with musculoskeletal disorder use short videos for seeking health information and support: A qualitative study

Background Short videos are a way that parents get health information. It is unclear how people seek health information in short videos on musculoskeletal conditions in children. Objective To investigate the health information needs of parents of children with musculoskeletal disorders and to examine the factors that influence their perceptions of that information. Methods Semi‐structured interviews with 14 parents were conducted, and the resulting interview data were analysed using qualitative content analysis based on the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking (CMIS). Results In this study, we deepened and expanded the CMIS, and four dimensions influenced the perceived quality of health videos. In the ‘antecedents’ dimension, we subdivided it into four sub‐themes: ‘health status’, ‘direct experience’, ‘salience’ and ‘social support’. For the ‘information carrier characteristics’ dimension, we explored ‘platform reputation’, ‘short video characteristics’, ‘information content characteristics’ and ‘creator characteristics’ in detail. In the ‘environmental influences’ dimension, we focused on the sub‐themes of ‘short video traffic’, ‘others' evaluation’ and ‘multi‐channel verification’. Discussion Parents tend to prefer searching for information on short videos. The quality of health information on short videos is primarily evaluated based on external features, which can increase their susceptibility to misinformation. Conclusions More short videos on musculoskeletal disorders in children are needed to meet parents' expectations. More effective and informative short videos could be designed based on the identified factors.