Is YouTube Useful as a Source of Health Information for Adults With Type 2 Diabetes? A South Asian Perspective

Sociocrinology: Impact of Social Media on Endocrine Health - A Review

Social media (SM) refers to social networking sites (SNSs), which are defined as online services that enable individuals to build a public or semi-public profile and give them the opportunity to create a network of contacts and interact. SM affects all aspects of life and may offer new opportunities to explore new experiences and perspectives of life because of its feasibility. But several times, because of feasibility, misinformation is generated intentionally or unintentionally, which spreads rapidly, and such misinformation can affect all aspects of life. However, health-related misinformation can be life-threatening to individuals. Endocrinology is the branch of medicine that deals with endocrine glands and hormones, which regulates mood, growth, development, metabolism and the way our organ works to maintain internal homeostasis. SM usage and endocrine health impact each other in both positive and negative ways. So, in this review, we will discuss about the effect of SM on Endocrine health.

Reliability and Accuracy of YouTube Peri-Implantitis Videos as an Educational Source for Patients in Population-Based Prevention Strategies

Considering the need to improve patient knowledge, awareness, and compliance for peri-implantitis prevention, and patients' demand for better, quick, and convenient access to medical information, the present study primarily assessed the reliability and accuracy of YouTube videos on peri-implantitis and secondarily evaluated their educational value for the patients, and the related suitability, as part of population-based preventive strategies, to deliver valid information, potentially capable of improving patient knowledge and educational skills. This study's protocol was developed in advance, and computer history and cookies were cleared to avoid limitations based on preferred user histories. The search term "peri-implantitis" was defined using the Google Trends website, and videos were searched on YouTube on 5 December 2022. Video inclusion and data collection were conducted by independent pre-calibrated investigators. Descriptive statistics were performed on the videos' characteristics, source, category, target audience, popularity, source reliability, video information and quality (VIQI), content, and educational value. Pearson's correlation between educational value and all parameters was calculated. Videos with very low/low and medium/good/excellent educational value were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. A total of 44 videos with medium values for popularity, VIQI, content, and educational value were analyzed. Most videos covered peri-implantitis treatment rather than etiology and prevention, about half were uploaded by dentists/specialists, and only 10% specifically targeted patients. Only 2% of YouTube videos about peri-implantitis had excellent educational value, and 5% had good educational value. Video educational value was correlated with VIQI and content beyond video length and source reliability. When comparing the very low/low and medium/good/excellent educational value YouTube videos on peri-implantitis, a significant difference was found in the Video Information and Quality Index, VIQI, and video content.

Content Quality of YouTube Videos About Pain Management After Cesarean Birth: Content Analysis

BACKGROUND

YouTube is an increasingly common source of health information; however, the reliability and quality of the information are inadequately understood. Several studies have evaluated YouTube as a resource during pregnancy and found the available information to be of poor quality. Given the increasing attention to postpartum health and the importance of promoting safe opioid use after birth, YouTube may be a source of information for birthing individuals. However, little is known about the available information on YouTube regarding postpartum pain.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to systematically evaluate the quality of YouTube videos as an educational resource for postpartum cesarean pain management.

METHODS

A systematic search of YouTube videos was conducted on June 25, 2021, using 36 postpartum cesarean pain management-related keywords, which were identified by clinical experts. The search replicated a default YouTube search via a public account. The first 60 results from each keyword search were reviewed, and unique videos were analyzed. An overall content score was developed based on prior literature and expert opinion to evaluate the video's relevance and comprehensiveness. The DISCERN instrument, a validated metric to assess consumer health information, was used to evaluate the reliability of video information. Videos with an overall content score of ≥5 and a DISCERN score of ≥39 were classified as high-quality health education resources. Descriptive analysis and intergroup comparisons by video source and quality were conducted.

RESULTS

Of 73 unique videos, video sources included medical videos (n=36, 49%), followed by personal video blogs (vlogs; n=32, 44%), advertisements (n=3, 4%), and media (n=2, 3%). The average overall content score was 3.6 (SD 2.0) out of 9, and the average DISCERN score was 39.2 (SD 8.1) out of 75, indicating low comprehensiveness and fair information reliability, respectively. High-quality videos (n=22, 30%) most frequently addressed overall content regarding pain duration (22/22, 100%), pain types (20/22, 91%), return-to-activity instructions (19/22, 86%), and nonpharmacologic methods for pain control (19/22, 86%). There were differences in the overall content score (P=.02) by video source but not DISCERN score (P=.45). Personal vlogs had the highest overall content score at 4.0 (SD 2.1), followed by medical videos at 3.3 (SD 2.0). Longer video duration and a greater number of comments and likes were significantly correlated with the overall content score, whereas the number of video comments was inversely correlated with the DISCERN score.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals seeking information from YouTube regarding postpartum cesarean pain management are likely to encounter videos that lack adequate comprehensiveness and reliability. Clinicians should counsel patients to exercise caution when using YouTube as a health information resource.

YouTube as a source of information on preventing the use of valproic acid in women during pregnancy

BACKGROUND

YouTube™ ( http://www.youtube.com ), as a very popular video site worldwide, is increasingly being used as a platform to disseminate health information. The purposes of this review were to assess the overall usefulness of the information on the prevention of valproic acid use in women during pregnancy on YouTube™ for patients.

METHODS

The YouTube™ website was systematically using 8 keywords. One hundred and fifty four videos meet the selection criteria. The researcher evaluated the video duration, days since upload, views and the likes. These videos are categorized as Education, News & Politics and People & Blogs. We designed a usefulness scoring scheme to assess videos quality and classified them as "slightly useful", "useful" and "very useful". The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine whether differences existed between total usefulness scores and categories and Pearson chi-square test for categorical variables.

RESULTS

The majority of videos were educational (62.8%). The "People & Blogs" and "News & Politics" videos scored significantly higher, but had no significant difference in days since upload, views, views/day or likes. More than half of the videos (91/154) were categorized as "useful". The mean posted days (p = 0.045) was significantly different in the useful group compared with the slightly useful group. There were no correlation between usefulness and the number of days since upload, duration, views, views/day, or likes.

CONCLUSION

YouTube™ is a promising source of information regarding the use of valproic acid during pregnancy. "News & Politics" videos are the most usefulness. Considering the presence of more slightly useful information, publishers need to improve more comprehensive video content that includes replacement medications, diagnoses and treatments. In the healthcare information space, consumers need to be directed to reliable video.

HPV-Related Oral Lesions: YouTube Videos Suitability for Preventive Interventions including Mass-Reach Health Communication and Promotion of HPV Vaccination

Given the need to improve patient knowledge about HPV-related oral lesions, awareness of HPV infection prevention measures, and compliance with vaccination, as well as patient demand for free and easy access to well-tailored and time-saving health information, the present cross-sectional study examined the accuracy of relevant YouTube videos and their suitability for mass-reach health communication and HPV vaccination promotion. A video search was performed, using keywords obtained from the Google Trends website, until 9 January 2023. Video selection and data collection were performed by independent, pre-calibrated examiners. Descriptive statistics were performed on videos' general characteristics, source reliability, popularity, information and quality, content topics, vaccination-encouraging/discouraging messages, and educational value. Pearson's correlation was calculated between educational value and all parameters. Mann-Whitney U test compared very low/low vs. medium/good/excellent educational value and HPV vaccination-encouraging vs. -discouraging videos. Most of the 97 YouTube videos analyzed were moderately accurate and reliable, 53% had moderate/good/excellent educational value, and 80% encouraged HPV vaccination, making them suitable for mass-reach communication. The limited role of oral healthcare providers in uploading relevant content, with the poor dissemination of information about HPV-related benign and malignant oral lesions, may be expanded by purposefully using YouTube and other mass media to improve patient knowledge of HPV-related oral lesions and promote HPV vaccination, which also underscores its potential beneficial oral effects.

Video clips of the Mediterranean Diet on YouTube TM: A social Media Content Analysis

PURPOSE

The present study conducted a social media content analysis on videos describing the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) posted onYouTube.

SETTING

YouTube TM online video sharing and social media platform.

METHOD

Three independent content experts evaluated 141 YouTube videos on the MedDiet in August 2020 utilizing standard rubric and protocol. Data abstracted include media source(s) of posted videos, and viewer exposure/engagement metrics. Information quality was measured by each content expert independently through use of the DISCERN instrument, a 16-item tool designed to assess reliability, dependability, and trustworthiness of an online source, scores were then aggregated for analysis.

RESULTS

A majority of videos (n = 102, 72.3%) were educational in nature. A third of videos were less clear and less credible on information presented (n = 46, 32.6%). Most videos were posted by an individual (n = 79, 56%), and the majority of videos were rated as medium quality (n = 88, 62.4%). Overall level of user engagement as measured by number of "likes," "dislikes," and user comments varied widely across all sources of media. Exploratory correlation analysis suggests that the number of a video's views, comments, likes, and dislikes are not correlated with quality.

CONCLUSION

Study findings suggest that MedDiet health promotion and education via YouTube has the potential to reach and inform clients; however, existing video content and quality varies significantly. Future intervention research focused on MedDiet should further examine possible predictors of high quality MedDiet content utilizing diverse online video sharing platforms.

Social media in health communication: A literature review of information quality

BACKGROUND

Social media is used in health communication by individuals, health professionals, disease centres and other health regulatory bodies. However, varying degrees of information quality are churned out daily on social media. This review is concerned with the quality of Social Media Health Information (SMHI).

OBJECTIVE

The review sought to understand how SMHI quality issues have been framed and addressed in the literature. Health topics, users and social media platforms that have raised health information quality concerns are reviewed. The review also looked at the suitability of existing criteria and instruments used in evaluating SMHI and identified gaps for future research.

METHOD

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and the forward chaining strategy were used in the document search. Data were sourced according to inclusion criteria from five academic databases, namely Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed and MEDLINE.

RESULTS

A total of 93 articles published between 2000 and 2019 were used in the review. The review revealed a worrying trend of health content and communication on social media, especially of cancer, dental care and diabetes information on YouTube. The review further discovered that the Journal of the American Medical Association, the DISCERN and the Health on the Net Foundation, which were designed before the advent of social media, continue to be used as quality evaluation instruments for SMHI, even though technical and user characteristics of social media differ from traditional portals such as websites.

CONCLUSION

The study synthesises varied opinions on SMHI quality in the literature and recommends that future research proposes quality evaluation criteria and instruments specifically for SMHI.

Evaluation of quality of diabetic foot examination on YouTube

INTRODUCTION

Foot ulcers and amputations are common conditions in people with diabetes and can considerably impact quality of life, necessitate a lengthy hospital stay and increase mortality. Preventative foot care and examination can prevent or delay ulceration, and individuals may seek information from publicly available social media resources such as YouTube. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the educational quality and reliability of publicly available YouTube videos on diabetes foot examinations.

METHOD

A YouTube search for "diabetic foot examination" was conducted, and the first 100 relevant English videos focused on examining the diabetic foot were included for evaluation. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) standards were used to measure video reliability. The Global Quality Score (GQS) and the Diabetes UK Annual Foot Check (DUK-C) checklist were used to assess video educational quality. Differences in JAMA, GQS, and DUK-C ratings were analysed after videos were sorted by topic and source.

RESULTS

The mean number of views per video was 101,311.9 ± 348,383.6, and the mean video power index was 41.6 ± 170.0. The most common upload source was from physicians (28%) and, the most popular material category was diabetes foot examination (58 videos). In terms of video reliability, 36% of videos scored 0. According to the GQS standards, only 5% of the videos are of excellent quality, while 34% are of poor quality, with 24 videos scoring between 0 and 1 on the DUK-C scale.

CONCLUSION

While foot care examination videos have a substantial audience, the majority are considered low in quality and reliability. Videos on comprehensive diabetic foot examination should be accessed on reputable sources that guarantee standardisations of video quality and take into account the simplification of information transmission in order to reach lay audiences.

Visualizing the Interpretation of a Criteria-Driven System That Automatically Evaluates the Quality of Health News: Exploratory Study of 2 Approaches

BACKGROUND

Machine learning techniques have been shown to be efficient in identifying health misinformation, but the results may not be trusted unless they can be justified in a way that is understandable.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to provide a new criteria-based system to assess and justify health news quality. Using a subset of an existing set of criteria, this study compared the feasibility of 2 alternative methods for adding interpretability. Both methods used classification and highlighting to visualize sentence-level evidence.

METHODS

A total of 3 out of 10 well-established criteria were chosen for experimentation, namely whether the health news discussed the costs of the intervention (the cost criterion), explained or quantified the harms of the intervention (the harm criterion), and identified the conflicts of interest (the conflict criterion). The first step of the experiment was to automate the evaluation of the 3 criteria by developing a sentence-level classifier. We tested Logistic Regression, Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest algorithms. Next, we compared the 2 visualization approaches. For the first approach, we calculated word feature weights, which explained how classification models distill keywords that contribute to the prediction; then, using the local interpretable model-agnostic explanation framework, we selected keywords associated with the classified criterion at the document level; and finally, the system selected and highlighted sentences with keywords. For the second approach, we extracted sentences that provided evidence to support the evaluation result from 100 health news articles; based on these results, we trained a typology classification model at the sentence level; and then, the system highlighted a positive sentence instance for the result justification. The number of sentences to highlight was determined by a preset threshold empirically determined using the average accuracy.

RESULTS

The automatic evaluation of health news on the cost, harm, and conflict criteria achieved average area under the curve scores of 0.88, 0.76, and 0.73, respectively, after 50 repetitions of 10-fold cross-validation. We found that both approaches could successfully visualize the interpretation of the system but that the performance of the 2 approaches varied by criterion and highlighting the accuracy decreased as the number of highlighted sentences increased. When the threshold accuracy was ≥75%, this resulted in a visualization with a variable length ranging from 1 to 6 sentences.

CONCLUSIONS

We provided 2 approaches to interpret criteria-based health news evaluation models tested on 3 criteria. This method incorporated rule-based and statistical machine learning approaches. The results suggested that one might visually interpret an automatic criterion-based health news quality evaluation successfully using either approach; however, larger differences may arise when multiple quality-related criteria are considered. This study can increase public trust in computerized health information evaluation.

TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality

OBJECTIVES

Social media platforms are increasingly being used to disseminate mental health information online. User-generated content about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most popular health topics on the video-sharing social media platform TikTok. We sought to investigate the quality of TikTok videos about ADHD.

METHOD

The top 100 most popular videos about ADHD uploaded by TikTok video creators were classified as misleading, useful, or personal experience. Descriptive and quantitative characteristics of the videos were obtained. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V) and Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria were used to assess the overall quality, understandability, and actionability of the videos.

RESULTS

Of the 100 videos meeting inclusion criteria, 52% (n = 52) were classified as misleading, 27% (n = 27) as personal experience, and 21% (n = 21) as useful. Classification agreement between clinician ratings was 86% (kappa statistic of 0.7766). Videos on the platform were highly understandable by viewers but had low actionability. Non-healthcare providers uploaded the majority of misleading videos. Healthcare providers uploaded higher quality and more useful videos, compared to non-healthcare providers.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately half of the analyzed TikTok videos about ADHD were misleading. Clinicians should be aware of the widespread dissemination of health misinformation on social media platforms and its potential impact on clinical care.

Transferring Healthcare Professional's Digital Competencies to the Workplace and Patients: A Pilot Study

The new times, marked by immediacy, globalization, and technological advances, has forced health professionals to develop new competencies to adapt to the new challenges. However, necessary skills such as using digital tools are primarily ignored by institutions, hospitals, and universities, forcing professionals to undertake training in these areas independently. This research aims to analyse if there is a transfer of what has been learned in the digital healthcare field to their professional practice and patients. To perform the study, 104 healthcare professionals, mostly nurses, who had completed online training in digital competencies answered a questionnaire with 17 questions. These questions were related to the transfer of learning to professional practice and its use for developing patient resources. Almost 60% of the professionals said that they have used what they learned in the course in their professional work, but only 16% of the participants use it daily. The main barrier to not having applied what was learned during the course, according to participants, was the situation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a lack of time and lack of resources. Only 23 people out of 104 developed patient resources after the course; the most created were infographics and videos. In addition, 38 people used what they learned to improve their personal productivity: searches, storage, calendars, etc. Only 11 used it for research purposes. People between 31 and 40 years old create the most patient resources and use what they learn most frequently. There is a need to improve e-learning to provide quality training that can transfer good behaviour to professional practice in the health field.

Analysis of YouTube videos as a source of information for myocarditis during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed to examine the content, reliability, and quality of YouTube video contents concerning myocarditis and its association with the COVID-19 for the first time in the literature.

METHODS

The most viewed 50 videos were included in the analysis. The time since the videos were uploaded, video length, type of image (real/animation), video content, qualify of the uploaders, the number of daily and total views, likes, dislikes, comments and VPI were recorded. The reliability of the videos was determined using the modified DISCERN criteria for consumer health information, while the quality was determined with the GQS.

RESULTS

The mean length of the videos was found as 6.25 ± 5.20 min. Contents of the videos included general information, COVID-19, vaccination, diagnosis, patient experience and treatment. The most common contents were regarding COVID-19 and vaccination by 44%. The uploaders of the videos were classified as physicians, hospital channels, health channels, patients and others. Fourteen (28%) videos were directly uploaded by physicians. The most viewed, liked and disliked videos were uploaded by health channels. The mean VPI score was calculated as 92.89 ± 12.29. The mean DISCERN score of all videos was 3.88 ± 0.77 and the mean GQS score was 3.63 ± 0.85. Reliability and quality of the videos were moderate.

CONCLUSION

YouTube videos on myocarditis have mostly focused on the associations between myocarditis and COVID-19 disease and vaccination. Health-related contents on YouTube should be subjected to peer review and quality assessment.

YouTube is inadequate as an information source on delayed ejaculation

The prevalence of delayed ejaculation in sexually active men is reportedly 3%. Due to its rarity and uncertain definitions, people seek information about delayed ejaculation on the internet. YouTube is one of the largest video platforms preferred global for gathering medical information. We aimed to determine the quality of YouTube videos on delayed ejaculation. YouTube search was performed with the keywords “delayed and retarded ejaculation”, and we recorded the first 400 videos according to relevance. The search results were saved in the playlist, and the first 400 videos were evaluated by two independent urologists. DISCERN and Global Quality Scale (GQS) were used to assess the reliability and quality of videos. Repeated (n = 17), off-topic (n = 279), non-English videos (n = 37), and videos with no audio (n = 16) were excluded from the study. The remaining 51 videos were evaluated. DISCERN and GQS scores were statistically significantly associated with video durations (r = 0.329, P = 0.018 and r = 0.349, P = 0.012; respectively). A statistically significant association was also observed between and DISCERN and GQS scores with video power index values (r = 0.466, P = 0.001 and r = 0.422, P = 0.002; respectively). 62.7% (n = 32) videos were low quality, 23.5% (n = 12) were intermediate quality, and 13.7% (n = 7) were high quality according to the GQS. Most of the YouTube content on delayed ejaculation was of poor quality. Physicians should be aware of this situation, and take the lead in bringing high-quality videos about delayed ejaculation to the community.

Assessing the quality and reliability of patient information regarding aesthetic fat grafting on YouTube

PURPOSE

Patients increasingly consult social media regarding aesthetic surgery. Given the popularity of fat transfer operations, this study assesses the quality and reliability of patient information available on YouTube regarding aesthetic fat grafting.

METHODS

The terms "fat grafting" and "fat transfer" were searched on YouTube with respect to the terms "face", "breast", "buttock", and "Brazilian butt lift". Filtered by view count, the top 20 unique, English language, aesthetic surgery-related videos for each search combination were reviewed by three independent reviewers for demographic and descriptive characteristics. Videos were rated for information reliability and quality using the modified DISCERN (MD) tool (1 = low, 5 = high) and global quality scale (GQS) (1 = poor, 5 = excellent).

RESULTS

Out of 80 total videos, 76% were authored by physicians and 24% by laypersons. The overall mean MD score was 1.5 and the mean GQS was 2.6. Videos authored by physicians outscored those by non-medical authors (MD: 1.6 vs. 1.3; GQS 2.7 vs. 2.2). Board-certified plastic surgeon videos (N = 30) scored higher on both the MD (1.7 vs 1.3) and GQS (3.1 vs 2.2) than those of non-medical authors. On the contrary, videos by laypersons and non-plastic surgeons had 40% more views, twice as many "likes" and nearly double as many subscribers.

CONCLUSION

The overall quality of information presented in aesthetic fat grafting procedures videos on YouTube is low and from unreliable sources. Surgeons should educate patients regarding potentially inaccurate information, and professional societies should disseminate high-quality media.

Factors Influencing Willingness to Share Health Misinformation Videos on the Internet: Web-Based Survey

Background

The rapidly evolving digital environment of the social media era has increased the reach of both quality health information and misinformation. Platforms such as YouTube enable easy sharing of attractive, if not always evidence-based, videos with large personal networks and the public. Although much research has focused on characterizing health misinformation on the internet, it has not sufficiently focused on describing and measuring individuals’ information competencies that build resilience.

Objective

This study aims to assess individuals’ willingness to share a non–evidence-based YouTube video about strengthening the immune system; to describe types of evidence that individuals view as supportive of the claim by the video; and to relate information-sharing behavior to several information competencies, namely, information literacy, science literacy, knowledge of the immune system, interpersonal trust, and trust in health authority.

Methods

A web-based survey methodology with 150 individuals across the United States was used. Participants were asked to watch a YouTube excerpt from a morning TV show featuring a wellness pharmacy representative promoting an immunity-boosting dietary supplement produced by his company; answer questions about the video and report whether they would share it with a cousin who was frequently sick; and complete instruments pertaining to the information competencies outlined in the objectives.

Results

Most participants (105/150, 70%) said that they would share the video with their cousins. Their confidence in the supplement would be further boosted by a friend’s recommendations, positive reviews on a crowdsourcing website, and statements of uncited effectiveness studies on the producer’s website. Although all information literacy competencies analyzed in this study had a statistically significant relationship with the outcome, each competency was also highly correlated with the others. Information literacy and interpersonal trust independently predicted the largest amount of variance in the intention to share the video (17% and 16%, respectively). Interpersonal trust was negatively related to the willingness to share the video. Science literacy explained 7% of the variance.

Conclusions

People are vulnerable to web-based misinformation and are likely to propagate it on the internet. Information literacy and science literacy are associated with less vulnerability to misinformation and a lower propensity to spread it. Of the two, information literacy holds a greater promise as an intervention target. Understanding the role of different kinds of trust in information sharing merits further research.

Youtube videos as an educational resource for ventrogluteal injection: A content, reliability and quality analysis

BACKGROUND

YouTube has become an important social media platform for teaching nursing skills. However, the content, reliability and quality levels of the videos on this platform are not adequately known.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to evaluate the content, reliability and quality of YouTube videos on ventrogluteal injection application.

DESIGN

Descriptive.

SETTINGS

Online.

PARTICIPANTS

26 videos about ventrogluteal injection.

METHODS

Videos were searched using the keyword "ventrogluteal injection". The content of the 26 videos meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated using the "Ventrogluteal Intramuscular Injection Skill Form", the reliability with the "DISCERN Questionnaire", and the quality levels using the "Global Quality Scale". The videos were categorized by their theme, type and upload source, and analysed statistically.

RESULTS

Of the 26 videos meeting the inclusion criteria, 21 (80.8%) were classified as useful information, 5 (19.2%) as misleading information by theme, 22 (84.6%) as educational, 4 (15.4%) as hormone therapy by type, 5 (19.2%) as official institutions, 13 (50%) as individual by source of uploads. The content, reliability, quality score of useful videos were higher than misleading videos. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between reliability score and the source of video uploads. Pairwise comparisons indicated that there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between the source of uploads of video and characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of the examined YouTube videos in the training of injection into the ventrogluteal site appears to have various risks in terms of ethics and patient safety. It may be suggested that the injection videos should be prepared by competent institutions/individuals, using best practice guides to increase the content, reliability and quality levels. It should particularly be borne in mind that videos on hormone therapy can be a public health threat.

YouTube as a source of information on adult orthodontics: a video analysis study

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content and quality of YouTube videos on the topic of adult orthodontics.

METHODS

Four Turkish keywords were searched on YouTube: ``orthodontic treatment in older ages'' (ileri yaşlarda ortodonti tedavisi); ``orthodontic treatment in adults'' (yetişkinlerde ortodonti tedavisi); ``braces treatment in older ages'' (ileri yaşlarda video information and quality index diş teli tedavisi); and ``braces treatment in adults'' (yetişkinlerde diş teli tedavisi). A total of 184 videos, ranked according to their relevance, were examined; out of these, 52 videos on the topic of adult orthodontics were included in the study. The information content score (with a scoring system consisting of 6 questions), reliability score, (VIQI), interaction index, and viewing rate of the videos were evaluated. The Mann-Whitney U test, Student's t test, and Spearman correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Explanations provided on all videos included in the study were given by orthodontists, to inform patients. The average content score of the videos was 2.55 ± 0.99 out of 6, and the reliability score was 3.07 ± 0.92 out of 5. The VIQI score was found to be 16.05 ± 2.76 out of 20. A total of 34 (65%) of the videos were scored as as having poor content, and 18 (35%) had rich content. Rich-content videos were observed to be significantly longer (P < 0.05) and have higher VIQI scores (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the information provided by YouTube videos about adult orthodontics was only moderately sufficient, this study found that YouTube is a reliable source of information.

Breast cancer screening literacy information on online platforms: A content analysis of YouTube videos

BACKGROUND

The YouTube platform has great potential of serving as a healthcare resource due to its easy accessibility, navigability and wide audience reach. Breast cancer screening is an important preventative measure that can reduce breast cancer mortality by 40%. Therefore, platforms being used as a healthcare resources, such as YouTube, can and should be used to advocate for essential preventative measures such as breast cancer screening.

METHODS

In this study, the usefulness of videos related to breast cancer and breast cancer screening were analyzed. Videos were first screened for inclusion and then were categorized into very useful, moderately useful, somewhat useful, and not useful categories according to a 10-point criteria scale developed by medical professionals based on existing breast cancer screening guidelines. Two reviewers independently assessed each video using the scale.

RESULTS

200 videos were identified in the preliminary analysis (100 for the search phrase 'breast cancer' and 100 for the search phrase 'breast cancer screening'). After exclusion of duplicates and non-relevant videos, 162 videos were included in the final analysis. We found the following distribution of videos: 4.3% very useful, 17.9% moderately useful, 39.5% somewhat useful, and 38.3% not useful videos. There was a significant association between each of the following and the video's level of usefulness: video length, the number of likes, and the uploading source. Longer videos were very useful, somewhat useful videos were the most liked, personally produced videos were the most not useful, and advertisements produced the highest ratio of very useful to not useful videos.

CONCLUSION

It is necessary to create more reliable and useful healthcare resources for the general population as well as to monitor health information on easily accessible social platforms such as YouTube.

TikTok as a Health Information Source: Assessment of the Quality of Information in Diabetes-Related Videos

Background

Diabetes has become one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, and many people living with diabetes use social media to seek health information. Recently, an emerging social media app, TikTok, has received much interest owing to its popularity among general health consumers. We notice that there are many videos about diabetes on TikTok. However, it remains unclear whether the information in these videos is of satisfactory quality.

Objective

This study aimed to assess the quality of the information in diabetes-related videos on TikTok.

Methods

We collected a sample of 199 diabetes-related videos in Chinese. The basic information presented in the videos was coded and analyzed. First, we identified the source of each video. Next, 2 independent raters assessed each video in terms of the completeness of six types of content (the definition of the disease, symptoms, risk factors, evaluation, management, and outcomes). Then, the 2 raters independently assessed the quality of information in the videos, using the DISCERN instrument.

Results

In regard to the sources of the videos, we found 6 distinct types of uploaders; these included 3 kinds of individual users (ie, health professionals, general users, and science communicators) and 3 types of organizational users (ie, news agencies, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations). Regarding content, our results show that the videos were primarily about diabetes management and contained limited information on the definition of the disease, symptoms, risk factors, evaluation, and outcomes. The overall quality of the videos was acceptable, on average, although the quality of the information varied, depending on the sources. The videos created by nonprofit organizations had the highest information quality, while the videos contributed by for-profit organizations had the lowest information quality.

Conclusions

Although the overall quality of the information in the diabetes videos on TikTok is acceptable, TikTok might not fully meet the health information needs of patients with diabetes, and they should exercise caution when using TikTok as a source of diabetes-related information.

YouTube as a platform for knowledge and awareness of peritoneal dialysis: A content analysis

BACKGROUND

One of the main barriers to choosing peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the lack of awareness and PD knowledge. There is an increasing trend in the use of the internet as a search tool for health-related information. This study aims to determine how useful YouTube videos are to get information about PD.

METHODS

YouTube videos were evaluated independently by two nephrologists. The videos' quality was assessed with DISCERN scoring system, global quality score (GQS) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) scoring system. We determined the quartile (Q) of the videos as follows: most reliable top 25% videos Q1 and others Q2-4.

RESULTS

A total of 295 videos were evaluated. University or society-sourced videos made up 15% (n = 43) of all videos, and healthcare providers were the primary target audience compared to patients (p < 0.001). JAMA, GQS and DISCERN scores were significantly higher for the videos that were targeted healthcare providers compared to the patients (p < 0.001, for all). A total of 34% of the videos in Q1 were obtained from the university or society. Nevertheless, only 17% of the videos prepared for the patients were among the Q1. A small number of videos mentioned that PD maintains the residual kidney function (RKF) longer compared to haemodialysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Universities and societies should upload videos to provide easy-to-understand information on PD. Also, the important benefits of PD, like the preservation of RKF, should be further highlighted in these videos. It may increase the PD penetrance by increasing patients' awareness.

A quality analysis of nocturnal enuresis videos on YouTube

INTRODUCTION

The internet is a popular area for collecting medical information and YouTube is one of the largest platforms used worldwide in this regard.

AIM

The aim of the study was to investigate the quality of nocturnal enuresis videos on YouTube.

STUDY DESIGN

In this cross-sectional study, a YouTube search was made by using the keyword "nocturnal enuresis" and the first 200 videos were examined according to their relevance. Video features (like, dislike, number of views, video length, upload source, etc.) were evaluated by 2 independent urologists. Individual correlations and inter-observer agreement of data for each video were statistically analyzed. The education quality of the mentioned videos was evaluated according to the JAMA, Global Quality Scale and DISCERN scoring system.

RESULTS

A total number of 93 videos were analyzed after they were sorted according to the exclusion criteria. Videos were uploaded by the physicians (49.5%) most commonly and the majority of their content was about etiology, symptoms and treatment (33.3%). Good agreement between the 2 urologists in terms of JAMA, GQS and DISCERN scores (0.84, 0.86 and 0.85, respectively) was determined. There was a positive correlation between the duration of the video and GQS/DISCERN scores. Of the 93 videos evaluated, 74 (80%) contained real images (video of the presenter) while 19 (20%) contained animation. There was no statistically significant correlation between the GQS, JAMA and DISCERN scores in terms of VPI values, view rate, number of comments, views, likes and dislikes (Summary Table). Of the 93 videos evaluated, 58% (n = 54) were of low quality, 16.2% (n = 15) were of intermediate quality, and 25.8% (n = 24) were of high quality according to GQS scale. There was a positive correlation between GQS, JAMA and DISCERN scores.

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, most of the YouTube contents about nocturnal enuresis were determined to have poor quality. Therefore, the healthcare professionals must be aware of the importance of health-related information on YouTube and ensure the flow of correct medical information to patients.

Online Information for Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Content Analysis of YouTube Videos

Preventive care is a form of healthcare that aims to prevent diseases or detect diseases in an eary stage, especially for diseases like colorectal cancer. YouTube is a platform with great reach and opportunity to educate the public through preventive healthcare-related resources. However, understanding on current YouTube resources, specifically related to colorectal cancer screening, are inadequate in terms of informational quality. In this study, videos related to colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer screening were identified and analyzed by two reviewers. Very useful (4.5%), moderately useful (18.5%), somewhat useful (38.9%), and not useful (38.2%) videos were categorized based on a usefulness scale compiled by medical professionals. Less useful videos are paralleled with more views and public engagement in comparison with more useful videos which had been released by more credible sources. There is a significant association between video length and level of usefulness as well between video source and usefulness. This study illustrates the need for better educational healthcare resources and/or filtration on widely accessible platforms such as YouTube.

Popular videos related to low back pain on YouTube™ do not reflect current clinical guidelines: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Quality of low back pain (LBP) information offered on YouTube ™ is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the current low back pain information available on YouTube ™ and determine if these videos report information that aligns with clinical guidelines. Further analysis explored whether specific features of the videos explain their popularity.

METHODS

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on videos related to LBP on YouTube™ with the 200 most viewed videos using the term "low back pain." The videos were independently viewed and assessed by two researchers for specific video characteristics, LBP specific content, and compliance with guidelines. The association between video characteristics or content with popularity (i.e., views, likes, dislikes, and comments) was investigated using regression models.

RESULTS

The median number of views was 2 018 167. Only 59 (29.5%) of the videos reported at least one diagnostic recommendation from clinical guidelines, and only 100 (50%) reported a treatment recommendation that aligned with clinical guidelines. Apart from year of upload, no variables were identified that were independently associated with popularity or engagement of the videos.

CONCLUSION

The information related to LBP offered on YouTube™ is often not evidence-based and there is the tendency to prioritize information on interventions rather than understanding the LBP process. Factors related to engagement with content about LBP on YouTube™ remains uncertain, indicating further need for knowledge translation in this field.

Empowering Patients Living With Chronic Conditions Using Video as an Educational Tool: Scoping Review

Background

Video is used daily for various purposes, such as leisure, culture, and even learning. Currently, video is a tool that is available to a large part of the population and is simple to use. This audio-visual format has many advantages such as its low cost, speed of dissemination, and possible interaction between users. For these reasons, it is a tool with high dissemination and educational potential, which could be used in the field of health for learning about and management of chronic diseases by adult patients.

Objective

The following review determines whether the use of health educational videos by adult patients with chronic diseases is effective for their self-management according to the literature.

Methods

An electronic literature search of the PubMed, CINAHL, and MEDLINE (via the EBSCOhost platform) databases up to April 2020 was conducted. The systematic scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodology.

Results

After reviewing 1427 articles, 12 were selected as the most consistent with the proposed inclusion criteria. After their review, it was found that the studies showed that video is effective as a tool for improving care related to chronic diseases.

Conclusions

Video is effective in improving the care and quality of life for patients with chronic diseases, whether the initiative for using video came from their health care professionals or themselves.

Making sense of "superbugs" on YouTube: A storytelling approach

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest challenges facing the world. With the rapid growth of social media, YouTube has become an influential social media platform providing publics with expert health knowledge. This article explores how antimicrobial resistance is communicated on YouTube. Drawing on qualitative media analyses of the most viewed YouTube videos 2016-2020, we identify seven different genres and two main storytelling approaches, personalized and fictionalized storytelling, used to make sense of antimicrobial resistance and its complexities. The study contributes new knowledge about YouTube as a platform for health communication and the types of videos about antimicrobial resistance that gets most traffic. This is useful, not the least for public health experts working to improve communication strategies that target hard-to-reach media publics.

Suicide on YouTube:Factors engaging viewers to a selection of suicide-themed videos

Visual social media platforms can function as both facilitators and intervenors of concerning behaviors. This study focused on one of the health concerns worldwide, a leading cause of death related to mental health—suicide—in the context of a dominant visual social media platform, YouTube. This study employed content analysis method to identify the factors predicting viewer responses to suicide-themed content from the perspectives of who’s, what’s, and how’s of suicide-themed videos. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression showed that the characteristics of content provider and content expression were more significant predictors of viewer engagement than were the characteristics of the message. These findings have implications for not only platform service providers but also diverse groups of individuals who participate in online discussions on suicide. YouTube has the potential to function as a locus for open discussion, education, collective coping, and even the diagnosis of suicidal ideation.

What Are Patients Watching? A Quality and Content Evaluation of YouTube Videos About Gestational Diabetes. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND

People with gestational diabetes have enhanced learning requirements during pregnancy, and management of their disease often requires the translation of health information into new health behavior changes. Seeking information from the internet to augment learning from health professionals is becoming more common during pregnancy. YouTube is a popular free and accessible web-based resource, which may be particularly useful for individuals with low health literacy or other barriers to receiving high-quality health care; however, the quality and content of YouTube videos varies, and little is known about those covering gestational diabetes.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to systematically evaluate the quality, content, and reliability of YouTube videos about gestational diabetes.

METHODS

A systematic search of YouTube videos was conducted over the course of 1 week in April 2020 using the following keywords: "gestational diabetes," "gestational diabetes management," "gestational diabetes treatment," and "pregnancy and diabetes." The search results were displayed by relevance, replicating a default YouTube search attempt. The first 60 results from each keyword were reviewed (n=240). Exclusion criteria were videos unrelated to gestational diabetes, videos not in English, and those for which the full video was not available at the time of review. For each unique video, a gestational diabetes content score was used to rate video comprehensiveness and accuracy, and the DISCERN instrument, a validated metric to assess consumer health information, was used to evaluate the reliability of information presented. Videos were further categorized by quality: videos with DISCERN scores lower than 3 (out of 5) or a content score less than 4 (out of 7) were categorized as low quality, and all others were designated high quality. We performed descriptive analysis and compared video characteristics by source and quality rating.

RESULTS

For 115 unique videos, the mean content score (out of 7) was 3.5 (SD 2.0) , and the mean DISCERN score (out of 5) was 2.7 (SD 0.7), representing low to moderate information comprehensiveness and reliability respectively. Video sources were categorized as personal vlog (12/115, 10.4%), web-based education (37/115, 32.2%), medical (52/115, 45.2%), business or company (13/115, 11.3%), and media clip (1/115, 0.9%). DISCERN and content scores trended higher among medical and web-based education videos. The majority of videos (n=88) were categorized as low quality, while 27 videos were categorized as high quality. Video duration was longer for high-quality videos (P<.001); high- and low-quality videos otherwise had similar views and viewer interaction numbers.

CONCLUSIONS

Although high-quality videos about gestational diabetes exist, reliability, accuracy, and comprehensiveness were low overall, and higher quality was not associated with increased viewer interaction. It is important to acknowledge the limitations of this platform and to assist patients in accessing high quality content and differentiating the quality of information sources.

Prevalence of Health Misinformation on Social Media: Systematic Review

Background

Although at present there is broad agreement among researchers, health professionals, and policy makers on the need to control and combat health misinformation, the magnitude of this problem is still unknown. Consequently, it is fundamental to discover both the most prevalent health topics and the social media platforms from which these topics are initially framed and subsequently disseminated.

Objective

This systematic review aimed to identify the main health misinformation topics and their prevalence on different social media platforms, focusing on methodological quality and the diverse solutions that are being implemented to address this public health concern.

Methods

We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles published in English before March 2019, with a focus on the study of health misinformation in social media. We defined health misinformation as a health-related claim that is based on anecdotal evidence, false, or misleading owing to the lack of existing scientific knowledge. We included (1) articles that focused on health misinformation in social media, including those in which the authors discussed the consequences or purposes of health misinformation and (2) studies that described empirical findings regarding the measurement of health misinformation on these platforms.

Results

A total of 69 studies were identified as eligible, and they covered a wide range of health topics and social media platforms. The topics were articulated around the following six principal categories: vaccines (32%), drugs or smoking (22%), noncommunicable diseases (19%), pandemics (10%), eating disorders (9%), and medical treatments (7%). Studies were mainly based on the following five methodological approaches: social network analysis (28%), evaluating content (26%), evaluating quality (24%), content/text analysis (16%), and sentiment analysis (6%). Health misinformation was most prevalent in studies related to smoking products and drugs such as opioids and marijuana. Posts with misinformation reached 87% in some studies. Health misinformation about vaccines was also very common (43%), with the human papilloma virus vaccine being the most affected. Health misinformation related to diets or pro–eating disorder arguments were moderate in comparison to the aforementioned topics (36%). Studies focused on diseases (ie, noncommunicable diseases and pandemics) also reported moderate misinformation rates (40%), especially in the case of cancer. Finally, the lowest levels of health misinformation were related to medical treatments (30%).

Conclusions

The prevalence of health misinformation was the highest on Twitter and on issues related to smoking products and drugs. However, misinformation on major public health issues, such as vaccines and diseases, was also high. Our study offers a comprehensive characterization of the dominant health misinformation topics and a comprehensive description of their prevalence on different social media platforms, which can guide future studies and help in the development of evidence-based digital policy action plans.

Analysis of YouTube as a source of information for restless leg syndrome

BACKGROUND

YouTube is one of the major resources for health related videos around the world.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of information available on YouTube about restless leg syndrome (RLS).

METHODS

A YouTube search was carried out on https://www.youtube.com for videos pertaining to "restless leg syndrome" by using the keyword "restless leg syndrome". The first 100 relevant videos were included in the study. The videos were accepted as "useful" if they provided scientifically correct information about any aspect of RLS. The videos containing scientifically unproven information are defined as "misleading". The overall quality of all videos was subjectively graded using the global quality scale (GQS), a 5-point Likert scale.

RESULTS

The median video length for the included videos was 3.39 (0.11-85) minutes, and the median views were 6,055 (32-2351490). The median GQS of useful videos was 3 (1-5). The median number of likes and the median number of comments of personal experience videos were significantly higher than that of the useful and misleading videos. Videos uploaded by the university hospitals frequently issued pharmacological treatment of the RLS; however, those uploaded by practitioners, individual users, and TV or social media accounts were about the non-pharmacological treatment of the RLS.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that 77% of the videos uploaded on YouTube regarding RLS are in the useful category, whereas only 16 videos were providing misleading information. However, even videos in the useful category do not provide a full and complete description of the RLS.

Evaluation of YouTube Videos Regarding Clean Intermittent Catheterization Application

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess the clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) training and education videos on YouTube.

Methods

This study was conducted in English language in descriptive type to evaluate the content, reliability, and quality of Internet videos related to CIC training. The search was performed by using term “clean intermittent catheterization” and “intermittent self catheterization” on YouTube in August 2019. The content of the selected videos was analyzed by 2 independent experts in the field. The DISCERN questionnaire was used to analyze the reliability of the video and the global quality score (GQS) was used for the quality of the video.

Results

When the contents of the 64 videos included in the study were examined, it was found that 41 of them contained useful information and 23 of them contained misleading information. DISCERN scores, video coverage scores, and GQS of videos with useful information were found to be statistically higher than those with misleading information (P<0.001). When the sources of the videos were examined, it was seen that 78.05% of the videos containing useful information were published by medical advertisement/for-profit companies (P<0.001). The reliability scores, coverage scores, and GQS of the videos from medical advertisement/for-profit companies were significantly higher than the other sources (P<0.001).

Conclusions

In this study, it was seen that the majority of YouTube CIC training videos examined within the scope of the research were published by medical advertisement/for-profit companies and most of these videos contain useful information.

The costs outweigh the benefits: seeing side-effects online may decrease adherence to statins

Background

The prevalence of medical misinformation on the Internet has received much attention among researchers concerned that exposure to such information may inhibit patient adherence to prescriptions. Yet, little is known about information people see when they search for medical information and the extent to which exposure is directly related to their decisions to follow physician recommendations. These issues were examined using statin prescriptions as a case study.

Methods

We developed and used a tool to rank the quality of statin-related web pages based on the presence of information about side effects, clinical benefits, management of side effects, and misinformation. We then conducted an experiment in which students were presented with a hypothetical scenario in which an older relative was prescribed a statin but was unsure whether to take the medication. Participants were asked to search the web for information about statins and make a recommendation to this relative. Their search activity was logged using a web-browser add-on. Websites each participant visited were scored for quality using our tool, quality scores were aggregated for each participant and were subsequently used to predict their recommendation.

Results

Exposure to statin-related benefits and management of side effects during the search was significantly associated with a higher probability of recommending that an older relative adhere to their physician’s recommendation. Exposure to misinformation and side effects were not associated, nor were any other participant characteristics. Bigram analyses of the top reasons participants gave for their recommendation mirrored the statistical findings, except that among participants who did not recommend following the prescription order, myriad side effects were mentioned.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that units of information people see on health-related websites are not treated equally. Our methods offer new understanding at a granular level about the impact of Internet searches on health decisions regarding evidence-based recommended medications. Our findings may be useful to physicians considering ways to address non-adherence. Preventive care should include actively engaging patients in discussions about health information they may find on the web. The effectiveness of this strategy should be examined in future studies.

Quality of Information Available on YouTube Videos Pertaining to Thyroid Cancer

The purpose of the present study was to assess the quality of information available on YouTube videos pertaining to thyroid cancer. A search of YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) was performed on February 12, 2018, using the search terms "thyroid cancer" and "thyroid cancer treatment." The first 50 videos that appeared on each search were reviewed and 52 videos were included in the analysis. Videos were independently analyzed by two authors for video characteristics including publishing source of upload, continent of origin, presence of animation, and numbers of views, likes, and dislikes. The quality of information provided was assessed using the DISCERN and JAMA benchmark scores, while video power index was also calculated. The median (min-max) DISCERN score was 19.5 (4-71) for reviewer 1 and 20.0 (4-72) for reviewer 2. The median (min-max) JAMA benchmark score was 2.0 (1-4) for both reviewers. JAMA scores were positively correlated with video power index in both reviewer 1 (r = 0.310, p = 0.025) and reviewer 2 (r = 0.356, p = 0.010) assessment. JAMA and DISCERN scores were positively correlated with duration of videos in both reviewer 1 (r = 0.454, p = 0.001 and r = 0.533, p < 0.001, respectively) and reviewer 2 (r = 0.541, p < 0.001 and r = 0.519, p < 0.001, respectively) assessment. In conclusion, our findings revealed poor quality of information provided by YouTube videos pertaining to thyroid cancer based on DISCERN and JAWA scores. Videos with longer duration and higher video power index seem to be associated with higher quality scores, whereas no impact of using animation was shown on quality scores as well as no association between video duration and video power index.

Perceived eHealth Literacy and Learning Experiences Among Japanese Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Cross-sectional Study

This study aimed to describe undergraduate nursing students' perceived eHealth literacy and learning experiences of eHealth literacy in Japan and to clarify the relationship between these factors. We conducted a self-administered online questionnaire survey using a convenience sample of 353 Japanese undergraduate nursing students selected from three universities. Participants completed the eHealth Literacy Scale and questionnaires on learning experiences of eHealth literacy and some demographic factors. Participants had moderate perceived eHealth (mean [SD], 24.52 [5.20]). More than half the participants responded that they had no learning experiences of health or science literacy. We observed a positive correlation between the total mean eHealth literacy and learning experiences scores. Undergraduate nursing students in Japan had slightly lower perceived eHealth literacy than nursing students in other countries, hospital nurses, and even patients. Of the 353 participants in this study, 69.4% did not know "where to find helpful health resources on the Internet," 80.2% of those lacked the skills "to evaluate health resources," and 68.9% could not "differentiate the quality of health resources on the Internet"; few of the participants perceived themselves as having any experience in learning the six domains of eHealth literacy. Very few reported learning about health (43.3%) and scientific (21.8%) literacy. The low perceived eHealth literacy among participants might reflect lack of knowledge and confidence in eHealth literacy as well as their own low level of health-promoting behaviors; this might influence the quality of health education of clients and their families. Nursing educators should address the lack of eHealth literacy among undergraduate nursing students.

YouTube Videos as a Source of Information on Colorectal Cancer: What Do Our Patients Learn?

YouTube is the second most visited website in the world. No studies to date have characterized and evaluated YouTube videos on colorectal cancer (CRC) although these videos could influence patient decision-making, notably regarding screening and prevention. This study aims to report the characteristics and quality of these videos as patient education resources for CRC. YouTube's search engine was queried with different search phrases relating to CRC. The first two pages of each search result were analyzed. Two specialists devised a critical appraisal tool with a list of criteria to assess the videos. Quantitative YouTube parameter analyses and criteria assessment were performed. Inter-rater agreement was assessed between three raters. A total of 46 videos were eligible to be included in the study. The videos were on average 4:51 ± 3:27 min long. The videos had 10 times as many likes as dislikes. Less than half the videos discussed risk factors and protective factors. Only 41% of videos mentioned screening tests and only about a quarter discussed them. Palliative care was only mentioned in 2% of videos. A single video could obtain a perfect score on the critical appraisal tool. Length was the unique parameter associated with a high score on the criteria list. There is thus a need for more authoritative and comprehensive videos easily identifiable by the patients. Video popularity is not associated with comprehensiveness. Currently, YouTube might not be an education resource for CRC suited to every patient.

Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media

Contemporary commentators describe the current period as “an era of fake news” in which misinformation, generated intentionally or unintentionally, spreads rapidly. Although affecting all areas of life, it poses particular problems in the health arena, where it can delay or prevent effective care, in some cases threatening the lives of individuals. While examples of the rapid spread of misinformation date back to the earliest days of scientific medicine, the internet, by allowing instantaneous communication and powerful amplification has brought about a quantum change. In democracies where ideas compete in the marketplace for attention, accurate scientific information, which may be difficult to comprehend and even dull, is easily crowded out by sensationalized news. In order to uncover the current evidence and better understand the mechanism of misinformation spread, we report a systematic review of the nature and potential drivers of health-related misinformation. We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Scopus and Google databases to identify relevant methodological and empirical articles published between 2012 and 2018. A total of 57 articles were included for full-text analysis. Overall, we observe an increasing trend in published articles on health-related misinformation and the role of social media in its propagation. The most extensively studied topics involving misinformation relate to vaccination, Ebola and Zika Virus, although others, such as nutrition, cancer, fluoridation of water and smoking also featured. Studies adopted theoretical frameworks from psychology and network science, while co-citation analysis revealed potential for greater collaboration across fields. Most studies employed content analysis, social network analysis or experiments, drawing on disparate disciplinary paradigms. Future research should examine susceptibility of different sociodemographic groups to misinformation and understand the role of belief systems on the intention to spread misinformation. Further interdisciplinary research is also warranted to identify effective and tailored interventions to counter the spread of health-related misinformation online.

•

Studies on health misinformation mainly relate to vaccine and infectious disease.

•

Findings show high prevalence and popularity of misinformation on social media.

•

Theoretical frameworks are drawn on disparate disciplinary paradigms.

•

Studies employed content analysis, social network analysis or experiments.

•

More interdisciplinary research needed to understand the susceptibility of users.

YouTube™ as a source of information on food poisoning

BACKGROUND

YouTube™ ( http://www.youtube.com ), as a very popular video site around the world, is increasingly being used for health information. The objectives of this review were to assess the overall usefulness of information on food poisoning presented on YouTube™ for patients.

METHODS

The YouTube™ website was systematically searched using the key words "food poisoning", "foodborne diseases" and "foodborne illness". One hundred and sixty videos meet the inclusion criteria. Two independent reviewers scored the videos utilizing a customized usefulness scoring scheme separately and assessed the video duration, views, days since upload, likes, and dislikes. The videos were categorized as education, entertainment, News & Politics and People & Blogs. A usefulness score was devised to assess video quality and to categorize the videos into "slightly useful", "useful", and "very useful".

RESULTS

Most videos were educational 66 (41.3%). Educational videos had significantly higher scores, but had no significant differences in likes, views or views/day. Over half of the videos (97/160) were categorized as "useful". The mean posted days (885.2 ± 756.1 vs 1338.0 ± 887.0, P = 0.043) and the mean duration of video (12.8 ± 13.9 vs 3.5 ± 3.4, P < 0.001) were both significantly different in the very useful group compared with the slightly useful group. There was no correlation between usefulness and the number of likes, the number of dislikes, the number of views, or views/day.

CONCLUSION

YouTube™ is a promising source of information regarding food poisoning. Educational videos are of highest usefulness. Considering that there is a lot of low-credibility information, consumers need to be guided to reliable videos in the field of healthcare information.

Educational value of Internet videos in vascular access

Aim:

The aim of the study was to evaluate individually uploaded Internet materials about catheter insertion and removal in terms of their educative value.

Methods:

YouTube videos for both catheter insertion and catheter removal were investigated. Rating, like, dislike, the position of a patient, maneuvers during removal, immediate coverage of removal site, and type of cover material were noted. A survey regarding daily practices for catheter interventions and approaches to educative social media platforms had been taken from medical professionals as well to determine the effect of social media on learning practices.

Results:

A total of 50 insertion and 35 removal videos were investigated. The popularity of insertion and removal videos was 4.7 (1.6–16.5) and 1.88 (0.66–4.54), respectively. ( p = 0.011). The position of a patient during insertion was supine in 80%, Trendelenburg in 18%, and upright in 82.9% of the removal videos ( p = 0.000). The survey showed that medical professionals watched insertion videos (66%) more than removal videos (11.7%) ( p = 0.002). Catheter insertion positions were similar among participants ( p = 0.553). Removal positions were different in specialties ( p = 0.023) in which especially nephrologists tend to remove the catheter at the sitting position.

Conclusion:

Medical professionals think that removal is an easier procedure than insertion. They both search more for insertion videos and upload more insertion videos. Insertion practices are similar among different specialties. However, removal practices are more heterogeneous. Individually uploaded catheter videos at YouTube are not reliable educative materials. More free official work should be produced to maintain sufficient qualified online material on social media platforms.

YouTube lens to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a social media analysis

Objective

Social media has provided an online environment for patients to discuss regarding their health and seek medical information. The primary aim of our study was to analyze the quality of information shared on YouTube regarding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Results

More than half of the videos, 91 (57.23%) had duration of fewer than 5 min. Only 8 (5.03%) videos were rated as highly useful whereas 61 (38.36%) videos were misleading. Interestingly, there was a significant higher (1203.38 ± 395) likes in the misleading group of videos, compared to 162.13 ± 169.63 likes in the very useful group, P = 0.012. Only a small fraction of videos had very useful information on ADHD. There is a need for high-quality, evidence-based, educational videos on ADHD for patient education.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3962-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.