YouTube as a Source of Medical and Epidemiological Information During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Content Across Six Languages Around the Globe

Dutta, Anirban; Beriwal, Nitya; Breugel, Linda M Van; Sachdeva, Sonali; Barman, Bhupen; Saikia, Hiranya; Nelson, Udeme-Abasi U.; Mahdy, Ahmed El; Paul, Subhankar

doi:10.7759/cureus.8622

Cited by 56 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“… 5 , 10 Interestingly, previous studies noted outlandish claims and conspiracy theories like “pharmaceutical companies have a cure but won't sell it so everyone is dying” 10 and that the virus was linked with 5G development. 21 However, no such claims were observed from the videos in our study. Our results showed that inaccuracies in the videos were largely due to statements not being specific.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

Assessing the quality of COVID-19 vaccine videos on video-sharing platforms

Tan¹,

Pua²,

Wong³

et al. 2021

Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy

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Background Video-sharing platforms are a common source for health information such as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. It is important that they provide good quality, evidence-based information. However, to date, the quality of information surrounding COVID-19 vaccines on video-sharing platforms has not been established. Objective This study developed an assessment tool to evaluate the quality of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine videos on YouTube, Facebook Watch and TikTok. Methods Assessment of quality was based on understandability, actionability, accuracy, comprehensiveness and reliability. Videos were searched using the keywords “COVID-19 vaccine”, “Coronavirus vaccine” and “SARS-CoV-2 vaccine”. Seventy-two videos were evaluated. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon-rank sum tests were used for analysis. Results YouTube had the highest median composite score compared to TikTok (36.8% versus 27.5%, p = 0.001). YouTube also had the highest median reliability score (37.5%), but those of Facebook Watch (35.0%) and TikTok (35.0%) were only marginally lower. Median accuracy scores of all platforms were 100%, but their median comprehensiveness scores were low (YouTube 12.5%; Facebook Watch 6.3%; TikTok 6.3%, p = 0.004). Median actionability scores (0%) were the lowest for all platforms. TikTok had the highest median understandability score compared to YouTube and Facebook Watch (96.9% versus 80.0 each, p < 0.001). Conclusion The overall quality of videos on all video-sharing platforms were low. All platforms provided accurate COVID-19 vaccine information, but TikTok videos were the most understandable. Most videos did not provide full details about COVID-19 vaccines, thus viewers would need to watch several videos before making a better-informed decision.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

Assessing the quality of COVID-19 vaccine videos on video-sharing platforms

Tan¹,

Pua²,

Wong³

et al. 2021

Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As most viewers do, the default YouTube “relevance” filter applied for the search. It has been shown that most people do not look beyond the first three pages of search results [ 5 , 19 ]. While YouTube used to post 20 videos on each page, it now presents search results in a continuous list.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

YouTube as a source of information on gout: a quality analysis

Önder

Zengin²

2021

Rheumatol Int

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YouTube is a popular video-sharing platform commonly visited by patients and healthcare professionals for medical information. Gout is the most frequent cause of inflammatory arthritis in adults. However, the accuracy and quality of gout-related information on YouTube are not fully known. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the reliability and quality of YouTube videos pertaining to gout. A YouTube search was conducted using the keywords “gout”, “gout arthritis”, “gout treatment”, and “gout diet”. Of the 240 videos screened, 114 that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The number of days since upload, number of views, likes, dislikes, comments and duration of the videos were recorded. A Modified DISCERN tool and the Global Quality Scale (GQS) were used to evaluate the reliability and quality of the videos. Of the 114 analyzed videos, 87.72% were deemed as useful while 12.28% contained misleading information with higher viewership. The most common topic was “gout diet”. The majority of the videos demonstrated high quality (57.89%), followed by intermediate quality (28.95%) while the percentage of low-quality videos was 13.16%. Videos posted by academic institutions/professional organizations and physicians had higher modified DISCERN and GQS scores indicating higher reliability and quality. This study demonstrated that the majority of YouTube videos on gout provide useful information. However, physicians should be aware of the limited nature of YouTube and correct any misinformation during face-to-face meetings. YouTube should consider avoiding misleading videos using validity scales such as modified DISCERN and GQS.

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“…A study of 21 countries found that the number of Google searches for “wash hands” increased with the lower speed of the COVID-19 spread [ 24 ]. However, systematic analyses and quality assessments revealed that considerable amounts of information on COVID-19 on the Internet often lack scientific rigor [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] and the share of videos contributed by government and health agencies was low [ 29 ]. Sources of COVID-19 information may have an impact on risk perception and self-protection behaviors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of COVID-19-Related Information in People with Various Levels of Risk Perception and Preventive Behaviors in Taiwan: A Latent Profile Analysis

Wang

Chen

Chang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The present study aimed to identify the distinct levels of risk perception and preventive behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak among people in Taiwan and to examine the roles of information sources in various levels of risk perception and preventive behavior. The online survey recruited 1984 participants through a Facebook advertisement. Their self-reported risk perception, adopted preventive behaviors and COVID-19-related information were collected. We analyzed individuals’ risk perception and adopted preventive behaviors by using latent profile analysis and conducted multinomial logistic regression of latent class membership on COVID-19-related information sources. Four latent classes were identified, including the risk neutrals with high preventive behaviors, the risk exaggerators with high preventive behaviors, the risk deniers with moderate preventive behaviors, and the risk deniers with low preventive behaviors. Compared with the risk neutrals, the risk exaggerators with high preventive behaviors were more likely to obtain COVID-19 information from multiple sources, whereas the risk deniers with moderate preventive behaviors and risk deniers with low preventive behaviors were less likely to obtain COVID-19 information compared with the risk neutrals. Governments and health professions should take the variety of risk perception and adopted preventive behaviors into consideration when disseminating information on COVID-19 to the general public.

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YouTube as a Source of Medical and Epidemiological Information During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Content Across Six Languages Around the Globe

Cited by 56 publications

References 13 publications

Assessing the quality of COVID-19 vaccine videos on video-sharing platforms

Assessing the quality of COVID-19 vaccine videos on video-sharing platforms

YouTube as a source of information on gout: a quality analysis

Sources of COVID-19-Related Information in People with Various Levels of Risk Perception and Preventive Behaviors in Taiwan: A Latent Profile Analysis

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