YouTube as a source of medical information on the novel coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Glob Public Health
; 15(7): 935-942, 2020 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-245114
ABSTRACT
Media coverage on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extensive, yet large gaps remain in our understanding of the role of social media platforms during worldwide health crisis. The purpose of this study was to assess the most viewed YouTube videos on COVID-19 for medical content. We coded video characteristics, source, and medical content of the 113 most-widely viewed videos about COVID-19. Seventy-nine (69.9%) videos were classified as useful, and 10 (8.8%) videos were classified as misleading. Independent users were more likely to post misleading videos than useful videos (60.0% vs 21.5%, P = 0.009). News agencies were more likely to post useful videos than misleading videos (72.2% vs 40.0%, P = 0.039). Useful videos were more likely to present any information on prevalence or incidence (79.7% vs 20.0%, P < 0.001), as well as information on outcomes or prognosis (84.8% vs 30.0%, P < 0.001) compared to misleading videos. The World Health Organization contributed one useful video (1.3%), while no videos from the Center for Disease Control were included. Although YouTube generally is a useful source of medical information on the COVID-19 pandemic, increased efforts to disseminate accurate information from reputable sources is desired to help mitigate disease spread and decrease unnecessary panic in the general population.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Consumer Health Information
/
Pandemics
/
Social Media
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Glob Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
17441692.2020.1761426
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