The Increasing Use of Social Media for Medical Information: Should Healthcare Providers Be Concerned?

Internet use by pregnant women during prenatal care

OBJECTIVE

The search for medical information on the internet is a part of people's daily lives. Exponential volumes of data are available through various media and platforms. There are several problems related to the ease of creating and accessing medical information on the internet, as evidenced by the quantity of false content and increasing anxiety due to the consumption of these data. In light of this accessibility, it is necessary to understand how people use internet-based medical information and its impact on specific populations. This prospective study aimed to analyze pregnant women's behavior when searching for health-related information on the internet, and how they were influenced by the information.

METHODS

Questionnaires were administered to the participants during their immediate puerperium, and their answers were tabulated.

RESULTS

Three hundred and two patients answered the questionnaires. We observed that internet use was frequent, and most patients discussed the findings with their physicians. However, this did not affect the delivery routes.

CONCLUSION

The search for health information by pregnant women is very prevalent but does not interfere with the delivery route.

Lifestyle Measures for Glaucoma Patients: An Objective Social Media Content Analysis

Aim

In this study, we analyze the content quality and characteristics of the most viewed search results on various internet platforms related to lifestyle measures for patients with glaucoma.

Materials and methods

In this internet-based cross-sectional study, we used search keywords "glaucoma," "lifestyle," "glaucoma," and "exercise" on the most popular internet platforms-Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit. The top 30 Google searches about each of the keyword combinations were identified. We also assessed the first 30 videos on YouTube and Facebook Watch, the first 30 Reddit posts and the first 30 Google images about each of the keyword combinations. The quality of content from the platforms was evaluated by three independent reviewers using the well-established Sandvik score, Health on Net (HON) code, and risk score for different uploaders. The quality of content regarding lifestyle measures in glaucoma uploaded by healthcare professionals (HCPs) was further evaluated.

Results

The established criteria resulted in 48 websites from the Google search engine, 22 videos from YouTube, 37 posts from Reddit, and 28 videos from Facebook Watch, which were included in the final analysis. The mean Sandvik scores were 11.14 ± 1.8 (Google webpages), 10.4 ± 2.19 (YouTube videos), 10.54 ± 2.21 (Facebook Watch), and 4.24 ± 1.18 (Reddit). The mean risk scores were 0.22 ± 0.68 (YouTube videos), 0.18 ± 0.47 (Facebook Watch), and 0.11 ± 0.31 (Reddit). The mean HON code scores were 5.45 ± 1.62 (YouTube), 6.55 ± 1.44 (Google webpages), 5.29 ± 1.04 (Facebook Watch), and 8.27 ± 3.05 (Reddit). The content uploaded by HCPs was primarily from ophthalmologists and had significantly (p < 0.05) higher content quality scores. The majority of the content recommended aerobic exercise as a lifestyle measure in patients with glaucoma as an adjuvant to medical and surgical management.

Conclusion

The majority of the content regarding lifestyle measures in glaucoma was uploaded by HCPs and had medically accurate and well-referenced information, especially on Google and YouTube.

Clinical significance

Primary care physicians and ophthalmologists can reliably use social media content to guide recently diagnosed patients about the requisite lifestyle measures.

How to cite this article

Chahal R, Jindal A, Parmar UPS, et al. Lifestyle Measures for Glaucoma Patients: An Objective Social Media Content Analysis. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2023;17(3):141-148.

Reliability of YouTube videos on robotic spine surgery for patient education

BACKGROUND

Robotic surgical systems developed to improve spine surgery accuracy. Studies have found significant reductions in screw revisions and radiation exposure with robotic assistance compared with open surgery. YouTube is the largest online video platform for medical education. Therefore, there is a need for the continuous critical assessment of healthcare-related YouTube videos. Our objective is to assess the reliability of YouTube videos on robotic spine surgery for patient education.

METHODS

In April of 2022, YouTube was queried for the following keywords: "Robotic Spine Surgery". The "Relevance-Based Ranking" filter was applied, and the first 3 result pages were considered. Videos had to be uploaded by universities or hospitals and be in the English. Three independent healthcare personnel evaluated the videos' education quality using the DISCERN tool.

RESULTS

Our study found that 33 % of videos analyzed scored above a 3 on the DISCERN scoring scale (considered a ''good" video), with overall mean DISCERN score of 2.8 ± 1.3 (SD). The duration of videos was significantly different between the two groups (Good = 16 min ± 21 vs Unhelpful = 4 min ± 4, p = 0.01). In the helpful group, other characteristics were number of views (16331 ± 31308), likes (88 ± 168) and dislikes (5 ± 8). No statistically significant differences were observed compared to the unhelpful group: number of views (6515 ± 9074; P = 0.20), likes (39 ± 55; P = 0.21) and dislikes (3 ± 4; P = 0.33).

CONCLUSION

Our study shows that YouTube videos on robotic spine surgery lack accuracy and have poor educational value. There should be increased institutional oversight to combat the spread of misinformation.

The Impact of Social Media Shared Health Content on Protective Behavior against COVID-19

The use of social media has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic because people are isolated and working from home. The use of social media enhances information exchange in society and may influence public protective behavior against the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting public protective behavior when relying on COVID-19 pandemic-related content shared on social media. A model based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) was proposed and validated using a quantitative survey approach. A questionnaire was distributed to random respondents, and 488 responses were received and analyzed using Smart-PLS software. The findings showed that perceived risk, e-health literacy, public awareness, and health experts' participation influence public protective behavior when using social media to share COVID-19-relevant content. The outcomes of this study can enhance government agencies' and public health care authorities' understanding of how to use social media to raise awareness and reduce panic among the public.

YouTube as a source of patient education information for elbow ulnar collateral ligament injuries: a quality control content analysis

Background

While online orthopedic resources are becoming an increasingly popular avenue for patient education, videos on YouTube are not subject to peer review. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the quality of YouTube videos for patient education in ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries of the elbow.

Methods

A search of keywords for UCL injury was conducted through the YouTube search engine. Each video was categorized by source and content. Video quality, reliability, and accuracy were assessed by two independent raters using five metrics: (1) Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria (range 0–4) for video reliability; (2) modified DISCERN score (range 1–5) for video reliability; (3) Global Quality Score (GQS; range 1–5) for video quality; (4) ulnar collateral ligament-specific score (UCL-SS; range 0–16), a novel score for comprehensiveness of health information presented; and (5) accuracy score (AS; range 1-3) for accuracy.

Results

Video content was comprised predominantly of disease-specific information (52%) and surgical technique (33%). The most common video sources were physician (42%) and commercial (23%). The mean JAMA score, modified DISCERN score, GQS, UCL-SS, and AS were 1.8, 2.4, 1.9, 5.3, and 2.7 respectively.

Conclusions

Overall, YouTube is not a reliable or high-quality source for patients seeking information regarding UCL injuries, especially with videos uploaded by non-physician sources. The multiplicity of low quality, low reliability, and irrelevant videos can create a cumbersome and even inaccurate learning experience for patients.

The positive impact of social media on health behavior towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Health information has a profound impact on developing awareness and ultimately preventing the burden of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but study in Bangladesh is lacking.

AIMS

Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of information from social media and television in developing health awareness among people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Data was collected during December 10, 2020 to February 10, 2021 from 1808 people. Data was collected by using questionnaire about information source and their impact on COVID-19 related health measures. Pearson's correlation analyses was conducted.

RESULTS

Female (52%, 937 of 1808) was the most prevalent sex and the mean age was 24 ± 3.9 years. Most of the social media users were students (63%, 1131 of 1808). Social media (53%, 959 of 1808) and television (44%, 800 of 1808) were the most popular sources and Facebook (66.5%, 1203 of 1808) was the most common source of getting health information. About 87% people received health information on social media and television. Users of social media had about 3 times more likelihood to follow the health rules. About 80% participants who used social media followed the health measures after 0-28 days of getting the information. The strongest correlation was found between social distancing and the information on television (r = 0.943).

CONCLUSION

Strong correlation of health information was present among the participants in building awareness about taking preventive measures. This is the first study to describe the positive influence of information amid COVID-19 in Bangladesh.