Short-Form Videos on Vision-Threatening Diseases Display Inconsistent Reliability, Research Shows

Social media videos can be educational as well as entertaining but this study found quality was variable. TikTok eyecare videos received the most user engagement but YouTube videos were rated most reliable. Click image to enlarge. A recent study conducted on short-form video content in the field of optometry and ophthalmology has found that, although social media videos have significant potential to improve patient awareness and detection of vision-threatening diseases, their educational value is highly variable and prone to misinformation. On TikTok in particular, there is “a limited number of videos created by ophthalmologists and other eye care providers, possibly indicating poor reliability of information.”Researchers conducted an analysis of 600 combined videos from TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts that contained the eyecare-related hashtags “diabetic retinopathy,” “glaucoma” and “age-related macular degeneration,” using the first 50 relevant videos on each social media platform in order to “replicate the health information a typical patient would see in their search.” They found that most of the videos were uploaded by physicians and had “a focus on treatment/management.”Video reliability was assessed using the modified DISCERN tool (scored 0-5), and overall quality was measured using the Global Quality Scale (GQS) (scored 1-5). Across all videos, the mean DISCERN score was 2.55 and the mean GQS score was 3.35, indicating moderate but inconsistent reliability and quality.Videos on TikTok received the greatest amount of engagement in the form of likes (a median of 496 per video), views (606 per video) and comments (27 per video), although the researchers stated that “after physicians, patients were the most common uploaders on TikTok.” While both of these can be reliable sources of information, the popularity of patient-experience videos in particular may affect others’ opinions and understandings of eyecare procedures in a way that leads to presumed greater knowledge than that of professionals.Among the four studied diseases, cataract-related videos generated the highest engagement across platforms, despite cataracts being easily treatable and reversible. In contrast, more complex and often irreversible conditions such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and AMD received comparatively less engagement. This discrepancy raises concerns that patients may be consuming less information about the diseases that carry the greatest risk of permanent vision loss. While most disease categories showed similar quality levels, AMD-related videos on TikTok demonstrated slightly higher reliability and quality compared to glaucoma videos.The researchers concluded that while short-form social media videos hold potential for improving patient education, their educational value currently remains inconsistent. “Future efforts,” they wrote, “should focus on ensuring that high-quality and reliable content is prioritized and promoted for engagement” in order for “users to avoid misinformation and improve patient education.” Additionally, the authors encouraged reliable sources, such as physicians, to continue uploading content that is reliable in the face of widespread misinformation.Click here for the journal source. Patel R, Mothy D, Boinpally N, Choudhry H, et al. Evaluation of social media short-form video content for patient education on vision-threatening diseases. J. Ophthalmol. February 18, 2026. [Epub ahead of print]. This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.