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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1408384
This article is part of the Research Topic The Effect of Digital Usage on Mental Health and Adaptation of Adolescents in the Post-Pandemic Era View all 5 articles

Evaluation of the quality of depression-related information on Chinese websites and video platforms: a cross-sectional comparative analysis

Provisionally accepted
YueDong Chen YueDong Chen Jia Yin Jia Yin Yuke Ding Yuke Ding Changyu Wang Changyu Wang Lu Niu Lu Niu *
  • School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: We aimed to assess the quality of information regarding depression on Chinese websites and popular video platforms. Methods: We conducted searches on website platforms (Baidu, Bing) and video platforms (Bilibili, Douyin) using search terms “depression”, “depressive disorder”, “depression treatment”, “depressive anxiety”, “depressed patient”, and “depressive symptoms”. We collected the first 50 results with each search term in each platform. Each website and video included in this study was assessed using The DISCERN instrument (DISCERN), Journal of American Medical Association benchmark criteria (JAMA), Hexagonal Radar Schema (HRS), and Global Quality Scores (GQS). Results: A total of 177 websites, 216 Bilibili videos, and 244 Douyin videos were included. Among all the platforms, websites had the highest median scores on DISCERN and HRS, at 33 and 2 respectively, but were still classified as “poor” and “very poor” according to the classification. Bilibili, Douyin, and websites had median scores of 3, 2, and 2 respectively in JAMA, indicating a moderate level of quality. Bilibili, Douyin, and websites all had a median score of 2 for GQS, and were of poor quality. Only the percentage score for JAMA was more than half of the weighted score, while none of the other scales reached half of the score. The median percentage scores of the websites in DISCERN, HRS, and GQS were higher than those of Bilibili and Douyin (P < 0.001). Compared to other sources, news media on websites and medical organizations on videos demonstrated higher quality (all P values < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings of the study indicated an overall low quality of online depression information. Collaborative efforts between platforms and professionals are necessary to improve the comprehensiveness and quality of depression-related information available online. In addition, the platform needs to prioritize optimizing the algorithm of recommendations and present real high-quality health information to the audience.

    Keywords: Information quality, Internet, Depression, Chinese websites, Chinese videos

    Received: 28 Mar 2024; Accepted: 27 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Yin, Ding, Wang and Niu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lu Niu, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, 410078, Hunan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.