ABSTRACT
Introduction With revolutions in Information Technology, information and misinformation are easier to be found online. YouTube is the largest and most commonly searched video content website in the world. It is assumed that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, most patients try to know about diseases through the internet and reduce the number of hospital exposures unless otherwise. In order to assess the understandability and actionability of such YouTube videos available freely online about the disease, Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), this study was planned. Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted with the first 160 videos available on May 14, 2021, with the search keyword "HDN" with a relevance filter and a duration of 4 to 20 minutes. The videos were further screened regarding the information content and language. These videos were assessed by three independent assessors using the patient educational materials assessment tool for audio-visual content. Results Out of the first 160 videos selected for screening, 58 videos were excluded due to a lack of content about the searched disease "HDN". Another 63 videos were excluded due to the language of instruction not being in English. Finally, 39 videos were assessed by three assessors. The understandability and actionability responses were checked for reliability and a Cronbach's alpha of 93.6% was found, indicating good data reliability. To reduce subjectivity, average scores of understandability and actionability were taken based on the scores of these three assessors. There were eight and 34 videos with average understandability and actionability scores of <70% respectively. The median average understandability and actionability scores were 84.4% and 50% respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between understandability and actionability scores with considerably lower actionability scores of YouTube videos on the disease, HDN (p<0.001). Conclusion There is a great need to include actionable information by content developers in videos. Most information available has adequate understandable content making it easier for the general public to know about the diseases. YouTube and similar social sites thus possibly are helping in the dissemination of information promoting awareness among the public in general and patients in particular.
ABSTRACT
Introduction With the advent of revolutionary information technology, most general medical information can be accessed by the community at large. However, the factual nature of information, its understandability, and actionability of diseases like Hemophilia are unknown to the general population. Hence the present study has been envisaged to assess the understandability and actionability of available video information on YouTube about Hemophilia. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual materials (PEMAT-AV) to assess the understandability and actionability of 50 videos shown by order of relevance utilizing three independent assessors. An online google survey was prepared using the PEMAT questionnaire as a basis and results were recorded and saved as a Microsoft Excel sheet for analysis. Data was analyzed using either Microsoft Excel or an online calculator as the case may be. Results A total of 50 short videos on Hemophilia were assessed by three independent assessors using PEMAT. The data so obtained was rechecked by an independent reviewer before data analysis. Three videos were excluded due to non-English language while only two videos out of 50 showed 100% average understandability and actionability. Average understandability and actionability scores range between 34 to 100 percent and 11.1 to 100 percent, respectively. Most videos have higher average understandability than actionability (P value=0.003). Conclusion Our study shows there are only a few high-quality short videos available as audio-visual patient education materials on YouTube about Hemophilia. There is a great need to develop content that is beneficial to patients as patient educational material.
