Background/Aim: Social media has great potential for easy access to medical information especially in underdeveloped countries. We aimed to analyze the content, reliability and quality of the most viewed YouTube videos, targeting patients intending to use this social media platform as a source of information about the esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) procedure.
Methods: Using the keywords “esophagogastroduodenoscopy” and “upper gastrointestinal endoscopy”, we assessed the publicly visible English-language videos available on YouTube. EGD Data Quality Score (EGD-DQS), Global Quality Score (GQS) and a modified DISCERN scale were used to assess the quality, flow and ease of use of the information and the reliability of the EGD videos.
Results: Universities/health-care professional group was the most common source of video upload (36%). The reliability score of the videos presented by physicians was significantly higher compared to all other lecturer groups (P=0.044). The reliability score, EGD-DQS and GQS score were also found to be statistically higher in the universities/health-care professional group compared to the health information websites, advertisement and patient groups (P<0.05, for all). Useful information was significantly higher in the universities/health-care professional group compared to the remaining upload sources (P<0.05). Lastly, patient-uploaded videos received more "likes" and "comments", and a higher number of subscribers.
Conclusions: YouTube is a powerful source of information for EGD procedure, especially where patients suffer to reach health care information due to inadvertent health policies. Academic sources should create videos that attract the interest of the viewers, and physicians should direct patients to online resources that present accurate and reliable information.
Patient education YouTube Esophagogastroduodenoscopy Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy Social media Medical information
The authors would like to express special thanks of gratitude to Dr. Ferit Argun for his able guidance and support in completing our project, especially in case of a conflict between the two reviewers.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Internal Diseases |
Journal Section | Research article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | March 1, 2022 |
Published in Issue | Year 2022 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 |