ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Seasonal influenza is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. During the 2017-2018 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted approximately 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths from influenza. We sought to evaluate the educational quality of informational videos pertaining to seasonal influenza on the popular social media forum, YouTube. METHODS: Using the keywords "seasonal influenza," all videos from 28 January to 5 February 2017 were included and analyzed for characteristics, source, and content. The source was further classified as healthcare provider, alternative-medicine provider, the patient and/or their parents, company, media, or professional society. Videos about other categories of influenza (e.g. swine or Spanish) or in foreign languages were excluded. A total of 10 blinded reviewers scored each video independently. RESULTS: Overall, 300 videos were analyzed, with a median of 341.50 views, 1.00 likes, 0 dislikes, and 0 comments. Based on the average scores of videos by source, there was statistically significant difference in the average score among videos by video source (p < 0.01). Healthcare provider videos had the highest mean scores whereas alternative medicine provider videos had the lowest. CONCLUSIONS: Although the aforementioned video sources scored higher than others, these videos did not fulfill our criteria as far as educating patients thoroughly. Our data also suggest alternative medicine and patient source videos were misleading for patients.Clinical implications: Although videos by healthcare providers were a better source of information, videos on seasonal influenza were shown to be poor sources of valid healthcare information. This study reiterates the need for higher-quality educational videos on seasonal influenza by the medical community.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Food allergy affects an estimated 8% of children and 3% of adults in the United States. Food-allergic individuals increasingly use the web for medical information. We sought to determine the educational quality of food allergy YouTube videos. METHODS: We performed a YouTube search using keywords "food allergy" and "food allergies". The 300 most viewed videos were included and analyzed for characteristics, source, and content. Source was further classified as healthcare provider, alternative medicine provider, patient, company, media, and professional society. A scoring system (FA-DQS) was created to evaluate quality (-10 to +34 points). Negative points were assigned for misleading information. Eight reviewers scored each video independently. RESULTS: Three hundred videos were analyzed, with a median of 6351.50 views, 19 likes, and 1 dislike. More video presenters were female (54.3%). The most common type of video source was alternative medicine provider (26.3%). Alternative treatments included the following: water fast, juicing, Ayurveda, apple cider, yoga, visualization, and sea moss. Controversial diagnostics included kinesiology, IgG testing, and pulse test. Almost half of the videos depicted a non-IgE-mediated reaction (49.0%).Videos by professional societies had the highest FA-DQS (7.27). Scores for videos by professional societies were significantly different from other sources (P < .001). There was a high degree of agreement among reviewers (ICC = 0.820; P < .001). CONCLUSION: YouTube videos on food allergy frequently recommend controversial diagnostics and commonly depict non-IgE-mediated reactions. There is a need for high-quality, evidence-based, educational videos on food allergy.
