The Absence of Evidence is Evidence of Non-Sense: Cross-Sectional Study on the Quality of Psoriasis-Related Videos on YouTube and Their Reception by Health Seekers

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Approximately 80% of internet users access health information online and patients with chronic illnesses especially rely on internet-based resources. YouTube ranks second among the most accessed websites worldwide and hosts an increasing number of videos with medical information. However, their quality is sometimes unscientific, misleading, or even harmful.

Objective

As little is known about YouTube as a source of information on psoriasis, we aimed to investigate the quality of psoriasis-related videos and, if necessary, point out strategies for their improvement.

Methods

The quality of the 100 most viewed psoriasis-related videos was assessed using the DISCERN instrument and the Global Quality Scale (GQS) by categorizing the videos into useful, misleading, and dangerous and by evaluating the reception of the videos by users.

Results

Evaluation of the videos exhibited a total of 117,221,391 views and a total duration of 10:28 hour. The majority of clips contained anecdotal personal experiences with complementary and alternative psoriasis treatments, topical treatments, and nutrition and diets being the most frequently addressed topics. While advertisements accounted for 26.0% (26/100) of the videos, evidence-based health information amounted to only 20.0% (20/100); 32.0% (32/100) of the videos were classified as useful, 52.0% (52/100) as misleading, and 11.0% (11/100) as even dangerous. The quality of the videos evaluated by DISCERN and GQS was generally low (1.87 and 1.95, respectively, on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being the maximum). Moreover, we found that viewers rated poor-quality videos better than higher quality videos.

Conclusions

Our in-depth study demonstrates that nearly two-thirds of the psoriasis-related videos we analyzed disseminate misleading or even dangerous content. Subjective anecdotal and unscientific content is disproportionately overrepresented and poor-quality videos are predominantly rated positively by users, while higher quality video clips receive less positive ratings. Strategies by professional dermatological organizations are urgently needed to improve the quality of information on psoriasis on YouTube and other social media.

Related collections

Most cited references 20

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

How internet users find, evaluate, and use online health information: a cross-cultural review.

Janet M Morahan-Martin (2004)

The Internet has become a favored source to find health information. Worldwide, about 4.5% of all Internet searches are for health-related information. However, research has found that the quality of online health information is mixed, which raises serious concerns about the impact of this information. This paper reviews relevant research to understand how health information on the Internet is retrieved, evaluated, and used. Most users of online health information are looking for information about specific health conditions because they or someone they know was diagnosed with a medical condition. They typically use general search engines to find online health information and enter short phrases, often misspelled. They seldom go beyond the first page of a search. Both their search and evaluation skills are limited although they are concerned about the quality of online health information. They avoid sites with overt commercialism, but often do not pay attention to indicators of credibility. Online health information is used to fill an information void which can enhance coping and self efficacy, affects health-related decisions and behavior of users and their friends and family, and is often discussed with health care providers. There are cross-cultural differences in the types of sites used as well as how online information is used. Based on the research reviewed in this paper, three major recommendations are suggested. Professionals should recommend sites. Professionals should promote more effective search and evaluation techniques. Professionals should be involved in developing and promoting uniform standards for health and mental health sites.

0 comments Cited 187 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Misleading Health-Related Information Promoted Through Video-Based Social Media: Anorexia on YouTube

Shabbir Syed-Abdul, Luis Fernández Luque, Wen-Shan Jian … (2013)

Introduction The amount of information being uploaded onto social video platforms, such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Veoh, continues to spiral, making it increasingly difficult to discern reliable health information from misleading content. There are thousands of YouTube videos promoting misleading information about anorexia (eg, anorexia as a healthy lifestyle). Objective The aim of this study was to investigate anorexia-related misinformation disseminated through YouTube videos. Methods We retrieved YouTube videos related to anorexia using the keywords anorexia, anorexia nervosa, proana, and thinspo on October 10, 2011.Three doctors reviewed 140 videos with approximately 11 hours of video content, classifying them as informative, pro-anorexia, or others. By informative we mean content describing the health consequences of anorexia and advice on how to recover from it; by pro-anorexia we mean videos promoting anorexia as a fashion, a source of beauty, and that share tips and methods for becoming and remaining anorexic. The 40 most-viewed videos (20 informative and 20 pro-anorexia videos) were assessed to gauge viewer behavior. Results The interrater agreement of classification was moderate (Fleiss’ kappa=0.5), with 29.3% (n=41) being rated as pro-anorexia, 55.7% (n=78) as informative, and 15.0% (n=21) as others. Pro-anorexia videos were favored 3 times more than informative videos (odds ratio [OR] 3.3, 95% CI 3.3-3.4, P<.001). Conclusions Pro-anorexia information was identified in 29.3% of anorexia-related videos. Pro-anorexia videos are less common than informative videos; however, in proportional terms, pro-anorexia content is more highly favored and rated by its viewers. Efforts should focus on raising awareness, particularly among teenagers, about the trustworthiness of online information about beauty and healthy lifestyles. Health authorities producing videos to combat anorexia should consider involving celebrities and models to reach a wider audience. More research is needed to study the characteristics of pro-anorexia videos in order to develop algorithms that will automatically detect and filter those videos before they become popular.

0 comments Cited 105 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Are internet videos useful sources of information during global public health emergencies? A case study of YouTube videos during the 2015–16 Zika virus pandemic

Kaustubh Bora, Dulmoni Das, Bhupen Barman … (2018)

Background : Internet-videos, though popular sources of public health information, are often unverified and anecdotal. We critically evaluated YouTube videos about Zika virus available during the recent Zika pandemic. Methods : Hundred-and-one videos were retrieved from YouTube (search term: zika virus). Based upon content, they were classified as: informative, misleading or personal experience videos. Quality and reliability of these videos were evaluated using standardized tools. The viewer interaction metrics (e.g. no. of views, shares, etc.), video characteristics (video length, etc.) and the sources of upload were also assessed; and their relationship with the type, quality and reliability of the videos analyzed. Results : Overall, 70.3% videos were informative, while 23.8% and 5.9% videos were misleading and related to personal experiences, respectively. Although with shorter lengths ( P < 0.01) and superior quality ( P < 0.01), yet informative videos were viewed ( P = 0.054), liked ( P < 0.01) and shared ( P < 0.05) less often than their misleading counterparts. Videos from independent users were more likely to be misleading (adjusted OR = 6.48, 95% CI: 1.69 – 24.83), of poorer ( P < 0.05) quality and reliability than government/news agency videos. Conclusion : A considerable chunk of the videos were misleading. They were more popular (than informative videos) and could potentially spread misinformation. Videos from trustworthy sources like university/health organizations were scarce. Curation/authentication of health information in online video platforms (like YouTube) is necessary. We discuss means to harness them as useful source of information and highlight measures to curb dissemination of misinformation during public health emergencies.

0 comments Cited 71 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Simon M Mueller:

Department of DermatologyUniversity Hospital BaselPetersgraben 4Basel, 4031Switzerland41 61 328 69 64simon.mueller@usb.ch

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0200-4254

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Med Internet Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J. Med. Internet Res

Journal ID (publisher-id): JMIR

Title: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Publisher: JMIR Publications (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Print): 1439-4456

ISSN (Electronic): 1438-8871

Publication date Collection: January 2019

Publication date (Electronic): 16 January 2019

Volume: 21

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: e11935

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Dermatology University Hospital Basel Basel Switzerland

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Simon M Mueller simon.mueller@ 123456usb.ch

Author information

Simon M Mueller http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0200-4254

Pierre Jungo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3305-7954

Lucian Cajacob http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1091-7440

Simon Schwegler http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1818-5333

Peter Itin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7522-002X

Oliver Brandt http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2461-4843

Article

Publisher ID: v21i1e11935

DOI: 10.2196/11935

PMC ID: 6357908

PubMed ID: 30664460

SO-VID: 098520d5-ea99-4d37-9170-513326353019

Copyright © ©Simon M Mueller, Pierre Jungo, Lucian Cajacob, Simon Schwegler, Peter Itin, Oliver Brandt. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 16.01.2019.

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/.as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 21 August 2018

Date revision requested : 20 September 2018

Date revision received : 28 September 2018

Date accepted : 8 October 2018

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 32

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 390

See all reference authors

Submit your digital health research with an established publisher
- celebrating 25 years of open access