Characteristics Assessment of Online YouTube Videos on Radiotherapy for Lung Cancer

Assessing the quality and reliability of YouTube videos as a source of information on inflammatory back pain

Background

Inflammatory back pain is a chronic condition with localized pain, particularly in the axial spine and sacroiliac joints, that is associated with morning stiffness and improves with exercise. YouTube is the second most frequently used social media platform for accessing health information. This study sought to investigate the quality and reliability of YouTube videos on inflammatory back pain (IBP).

Methods

The study design was planned as cross-sectional. A search was conducted using the term "inflammatory back pain," and the first 100 videos that met the inclusion criteria were selected on October 19, 2023. The data of the videos selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria in the study settings were examined. Videos with English language, with audiovisual content , had a duration >30 s, non-duplicated and primary content related to IBP were included in the study. A number of video parameters such as the number of likes, number of views, duration, and content categories were assessed. The videos were assessed for reliability using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark criteria and the DISCERN tool. Quality was assessed using the Global Quality Score (GQS). Continuous variables were checked for normality of distribution using Shapiro-Wilk test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the continuous data depending on the number of groups. Categorical data were analyzed using Pearson's chi-square test.

Results

Reliability assessment based on JAMA scores showed 21% of the videos to have high reliability. Quality assessment based on GQS results showed 19% of the videos to have high quality. JAMA, DISCERN, and GQS scores differed significantly by source of video (p < 0.001, < 0.001, and = 0.002, respectively). Video duration had a moderate positive correlation with scores from the GQS (r = 0.418, p < 0.001), JAMA (r = 0.484, p < 0.001), and modified DISCERN (r = 0.418, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The results of the present study showed that YouTube offers videos of low reliability and low quality on inflammatory back pain. Health authorities have a responsibility to protect public health and should take proactive steps regarding health information shared on social media platforms.

The quality of YouTube videos on radiotherapy and prostatectomy for prostate cancer

INTRODUCTION

Prostate cancer ranks as the third leading cause of death among Canadian men and is primarily treated with radiotherapy and prostatectomy. Given YouTube's significant global traffic, patients often turn to it for information on treatment and side effects. This study assessed YouTube videos for prostate cancer patients, focusing on radiotherapy, prostatectomy, and side effect management.

METHODS

The study analyzed 50 YouTube videos, comparing their accuracy and coverage against the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), UpToDate, and cancer.ca. Two raters were involved in the review of the videos to ensure inter-rater reliability.

RESULTS

Video lengths ranged from 1-60 minutes (mean 11 minutes) and creation dates ranged from 2012-2021. Videos were presented by physicians, patients, or allied health professionals (75%, 16%, and 8%, respectively). Results showed physician presenters had a Video Power Index (video popularity) of 23.45, while patient presenters had an average of 61.36 (almost three times as popular as physician-led videos). The overall accuracy of videos showed that 82% demonstrated completely accurate and detailed information, 18% showed partially complete information, and 76% showed no biased information. No false information was found in any videos.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that while the YouTube informational videos included good coverage of treatment side effects, there were gaps in information regarding quality of life after treatment or management of side effects. Information from this study can benefit the provider-patient interaction, with the hope that healthcare providers create more videos on quality of life after treatment and management of side effects to satisfy patient needs.

Assessment of Lung Cancer YouTube Videos for Patient Education

The internet is essential for obtaining information about lung cancer, which is the leading contributor to global cancer deaths. YouTube is a video-streaming platform that is popular among health consumers; however, the reliability of videos is variable, and few studies have evaluated their role in lung cancer education. This study uses a systematic approach to assess the characteristics, reliability and use of best practices of lung cancer YouTube videos for patient education. Using the search term "lung cancer," the first 50 YouTube videos were identified after applying exclusion criteria and removing duplicates. Two reviewers used a video assessment tool to evaluate 10 videos with minimal discrepancies. The remaining 40 videos were evaluated by one reviewer following a design based research approach. Under half the videos were published within 3 years. Mean video length was 6 min and 12 s. Video publishers were commonly from the USA (70%); were affiliated with a health care facility/ organization (30%), non-profit (26%) or commercial organization (30%); had a physician presenter (46%); were targeted towards patients (68%); and had subtitles (96%). Seventy four percent of videos supported optimal learning by including effective audio and visual channels. Lung cancer epidemiology, risk factors, and definitions (nature of the disease and classification) were among the most common topics covered. Prognostic and diagnostic information was covered less than expected. The reliability of the videos (measured by Modified DISCERN score) varied by presenter type; however, these results should be interpreted cautiously due to the absence of gold standard tools. This study encourages those producing health education videos to continue following best practices for video learning and provides strategies for healthcare providers and patients to support patient education.

Evaluation of the reliability and quality of YouTube videos as a source of information for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation

Background

YouTube plays an influential role in disseminating health-related information in the digital age. This study aimed to evaluate YouTube videos on transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in terms of their information value and quality.

Methods

In this descriptive study, we ranked the first 100 videos that met the inclusion criteria using the search term "transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation" on October 30, 2022. These videos were classified according to the number of views, likes, dislikes, comments, duration, popularity and content categories. Reliability, quality, and accuracy of the videos were assessed using the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Criteria and Modified DISCERN Questionnaire and Global Quality Score (GQS). Video popularity were calculated by the Video Power Index (VPI).

Results

Based on the GQS results, we found that 59, 27, and 14 videos had low, intermediate, and high quality, respectively. In addition, based on the JAMA results, 79 and 21 videos had poor and high reliability, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the JAMA, modified DISCERN and GQS scores in terms of the sources of videos (p = 0.226, p = 0.115, p = 0.812). Notably, there was a weak positive correlation between the JAMA scores and the number of views (r = 0.204, p = 0.041).

Conclusion

According to our study results, most YouTube videos on TENS were of low quality and reliability. Additionally, most videos were uploaded from sources created by doctors; the most frequently found content was about the TENS procedure, and content on complications of the procedure became less frequent as the videos became more recent. In particular, it was found that videos uploaded by academics have longer duration. It has been found that reliable videos with high JAMA scores also have high number of views. Accordingly, it can be concluded that videos with higher quality and more reliability that are created by healthcare providers will be more useful for patients seeking information about TENS.

Are YouTubeTM Videos Useful for Biostatistics Education: A sample of Logistic Regression

Objectives: To assess the quality and educational content of YouTube videos related to logistic regression. Methods: A comprehensive electronic search was performed for ‘Logistic Regression” in YouTube.The first 70 videos were evaluated for each term. Videos were evaluated using Global Quality Score [GQS] checklists and were classified as useful and insufficient by two statisticians. Results: From among the 70 videos analyzed, 53 were included. The mean GQS value was 3.9+1.1. Fourty videos (75.5%) were classified as useful. Independent users tend to upload videos mostly Lecturer / PhD, Lecturer Msc. and Data science course channel. Significant difference was observed in GQS among useful and insufficient videos. The mean GQS scores of useful videos were 4.3 (s.d.:0.8), for insuffient videos were 2.5 (s.d.:0.5). Conclusion: Specialists or instructors could refer their students to YouTube resources and actively participate in the development of video-sharing platforms for biostatistics.