Quality assessment of ADHD-related short videos on Chinese social media: A cross-sectional study

Short videos on health information related to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on mainstream platforms in China are increasing; however, the quality of relevant content has not been systematically evaluated. A search was conducted on Douyin, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu from August 18 to 22, 2025, using the keywords ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ‘, ‘ Hyperactivity Disorder ‘, and ‘ADHD’. The top 100 videos under each keyword were collected. Two researchers independently evaluated them using GQS, mDISCERN, PEMAT-A, PEMAT-U and JAMA benchmark criteria. A total of 228 eligible videos were analyzed. Most of the videos focused on disease-related knowledge (n = 124, 54.4%) and were published by medical professionals (n = 89, 39.0%). Senior professionals had the highest content quality score (GQS median: 3). The median of mDISCERN: 2)The scores of Bilibili videos on GQS, mDISCERN and PEMAT-U were significantly higher than those of Douyin and Xiaohongshu (all P  < .05). However, the overall information reliability (mDISCERN median: 1) and operability (PEMAT-A median: 25%) were low. It is worth noting that there was no significant positive correlation between user engagement indicators (likes, comments, sharing) and any quality score (all | r |<0.2), indicating weak associations with limited practical importance, while video duration was significantly but weakly positively correlated with PEMAT-A score ( R  = 0.187, P  < .001, suggesting limited practical value). In short, although ADHD-related videos are widely prevalent on mainstream short video platforms in China, their popularity cannot fully reflect scientific validity. Overall video quality and reliability remain to be enhanced. In the future, relevant parties may consider optimizing platform algorithms, standardizing content publishers” obligations and enhancing public media literacy, to facilitate sound development of ADHD-related public health communication.