Comparison of online health information between different digital platforms for pelvic organ prolapse

Quality of Information in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Social Media Platforms Versus Large Language Models

INTRODUCTION

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common peripheral nerve entrapment disease, and it is a subject of great interest and concern to medical professionals and the general public. Our study aims to analyze and compare the quality and accuracy of the information related to CTS provided by social media platforms (SMPs) and the new large language models (LLM).

METHODS

On YouTube, the first 20 videos in English and the first 20 videos in Spanish when searching for "carpal tunnel syndrome" and "síndrome túnel carpo" were selected. On Instagram, the first 20 videos with the hashtag #carpaltunnelsyndrome and #tunelcarpiano were chosen (in total 80 videos). Duration, number of likes, number of views, number of followers, upload date, and author category (medical specialist, patient, etc) were evaluated. Three specific questions about CTS were asked to 2 new LLMs (ChatGPT and Google Bard). The quality of information was analyzed and compared by two independent board-certified plastic surgeons using the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) and DISCERN scales.

RESULTS

LLMs showed a significant higher quality of information when compared with SMPs based on the DISCERN scores ( P < 0.05). Average DISCERN scores for answers given by ChatGPT and Google Bard were 52.83 and 57.83, respectively (good quality). In YouTube and Instagram, the average score for the 80 videos based on the JAMA scale was 1.92 (low reliability) and 25.18 (very low quality) on the DISCERN scale. Videos created by medical professionals in SMPs were associated with a higher JAMA and DISCERN scores ( P < 0.05). 53.8% of the videos were made by a nonmedical author.

CONCLUSIONS

The quality of information from LLMs was good and significantly better than in SMP. A low participation of board-certified surgeons in SMP was found. Board-certified surgeons should be more involved in LLM and SMPs to increase leadership, improve education, and spread knowledge of peripheral nerve surgery.

A systematic review assessing the reliability of studies focusing on urological content on YouTube

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, several publications have focused on analyzing the quality of medical content on YouTube. The current systematic review aimed to summarize and analyze the available studies examining YouTube video content in the urological field.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

This is a systematic review including studies examining urological content uploaded on the YouTube platform published before November 2023. The following keywords were combined to capture relevant publications with a title/abstract search: ("Urology" OR "Andrology") AND ("YouTube" OR "Social media").

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

According to the inclusion criteria, 84 studies were included. Of all, 74 (88%) studies were published after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. A total of 52 (62%) studies used the DISCERN score, 29 (35%) the PEMAT A/V score, 30 (36%) the GQS, 23 (27%) the Misinformation score, 14 (17%) the Likert scale, and 13 (15%) the JAMA score. According to the conclusion, 62 (74%) studies reported poor quality results. Among all, only 10 (12%) studies respected our criteria of best quality methodology, defined as: 1) description of the research time frame; 2) use of incognito status; 3) the description of the inter-rater variability between reviewers; 4) use of at least one quality assessment tool.

CONCLUSIONS

The systematic review highlights significant variability in results and methodologies across studies on the quality analysis of urological content on YouTube. The official urological community should establish guidelines for authors, aiming to enhance the reliability and importance of such publications as valuable resources for daily clinical practice.

Evaluating the quality of Spanish-language information for patients with type 2 diabetes on YouTube and Facebook

Introduction: Spanish speakers rely on social media for health information, with varying quality of its content. This study evaluates the reliability, completeness, and quality of type 2 diabetes (T2D) information available in Spanish-language videos on YouTube and Facebook. Methods: Analytical observational study that included Spanish-language videos on TD2 available on Facebook and YouTube. General characteristics, interaction and generating sources are described. Standardized tools were used to assess reliability, completeness and overall quality. Results: We included 172 videos, 90 from Youtube® and 82 from Facebook®. The median number of views was 1725 (IQR 213-10,000), with an average duration of 5.93 minutes (IQR 3.2-16.8) and an internet time of 834 days (IQR 407-1477). Most videos were uploaded by independent users (58.72%). Reliability (evaluated with DISCERN tool) had a median of 3 (IQR 2-3), completeness (content score) had a median of 2 (IQR 1-3), and overall quality, evaluated with the Global Quality Score (GQS) tool had a median of 3 (IQR 3-4). Using a global classification of "subjective reliability" 92.4% of the videos were considered reliable. Better completeness was observed in Facebook videos (p < .001). Reliability was better for videos from government or news organizations. Conclusion: Our results suggest that videos about T2D in Spanish on social media such as YouTube and Facebook have good reliability and quality, with greater exhaustiveness in content in Facebook videos and greater reliability for videos from government or news organizations.

A content analysis of YouTube videos on palliative care: understanding the quality and availability of online resources

Background

Improvement in quality care is an important aspect of palliative care for individuals with serious illnesses. Palliative care is a multidisciplinary strategy that addresses the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. As technology advances, digital media - especially YouTube - has come to serve as a virtual educational platform, offering resources for health-related information, including information about palliative care.

Objectives

In this research, the main goal was to evaluate the quality and availability of online resources related to palliative care.

Design

Two theoretical frameworks were used: the Health Communication Model and the Information Quality Framework. These frameworks offer a way to understand how YouTube videos contribute to palliative care information and assess the quality of that information.

Methods

This study utilizes a quantitative analysis approach to assess the quality and accessibility of YouTube videos on palliative care. Specifically, a random sample of 300 YouTube videos addressing palliative care was examined. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, including the frequency and distribution of the different types of content, sources, and quality indicators. Chi-square tests were done to compare the quality of information provided by different sources and types of content.

Results

The results showed a variety of video types, with educational videos being the most common (40%), followed by personal stories (26.7%) and promotional videos (16.7%). We found that healthcare organizations (30%) and individual content creators (46.7%) were the sources for these videos.

Conclusion

There were varying scores in terms of accuracy, completeness, and relevance when it came to quality assessment. While many videos received excellent ratings, some received poor ratings. Additionally, this analysis revealed that the majority of these videos were in English (83.3%), which poses a limitation for non-English speakers who may have difficulty understanding them.

Co-Design of a website for women with pelvic organ prolapse: A study protocol

Background

Despite high reported prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), women report difficulties accessing evidence-based and reliable information about the condition. Many rely on social media and other popular and highly visible internet platforms which have been found to contain poor quality information that is difficult for the average patient to understand. The aim of the study is to co-design an information website for premenopausal women with POP. The website design will be based on the Website Developmental Model for the Healthcare Consumer (WDMHC) framework.

Methods

A four phase process will be utilised as per the WDMHC framework: 1) User, task and environmental analysis; 2) Functional and representational analysis; 3) Cognitive walkthrough, keystroke level model, heuristic testing; 4) Content based testing, expert testing and user-based testing.Ethics approval has been obtained (LS-23-19-Carroll-Ful). Two groups of stakeholders will be recruited (i) patient group (ii) healthcare professional (HCP) group. Patient participants will be recruited from an online pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) support group (n=950 members). A website designer and HCP stakeholders involved in the multidisciplinary team caring for women with POP will be invited to participate.Both groups will participate in separate co-design online workshops. Focus group workshops will be video-recorded, transcribed and imported into NVivo. Themes and subthemes will be developed.The website will be designed and disseminated to all participants for feedback. Cognitive walkthrough and heuristic testing will be undertaken. Following this, necessary modifications will be made to the website. Participants will then complete a modified System Usability Scale (SUS) and the eHealth Impact Questionnaire, while five HCPs will complete the DISCERN instrument.

Conclusion

This study will inform the design and testing of an information website for women with POP. The website design and content will be informed by patient and HCP stakeholder voices and the health literacy literature.

Content and quality of YouTube regarding women's health: a scoping review

PURPOSE

This scoping review investigated the content and quality of YouTube videos on women's health.

METHODS

A literature search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, and RISS databases was performed using the keywords "('youtube'/exp OR youtube OR 'social media'/ exp OR 'social media' OR (('social'/exp OR social) AND ('media'/exp OR media))) AND ('female health care' OR (('female'/exp OR female) AND ('health'/exp OR health) AND ('care'/exp OR care)))" from February 21 to 27, 2023. Peer-reviewed analytic studies in English or Korean that focused on women's health using YouTube were included.

RESULTS

The review identified 21 articles that covered various themes related to women's health, such as breast cancer, urinary disease, sexual health, pelvic organ prolapse, the human papillomavirus vaccine, Papanikolaou smears, contraception, women's health information during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, obstetric epidural anesthesia, and placenta accreta. However, the overall quality of the content was low, inaccurate, unreliable, and misleading.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review demonstrated that YouTube videos on women's health covered diverse topics, but the quality of the content needed improvement. More reliable and high-quality videos produced by academic institutes and healthcare professionals specializing in women's health are needed for social media to be usable as a reliable source of women's health information. The high number of views and shares received by the videos underscores the importance of providing accurate and reliable information on women's health.

Digital health information on surgical treatment options for overactive bladder is underrepresented

PURPOSE

Digital health information gains growing importance in the medical landscape. Despite its opportunities, there is a risk of patient misinformation which may adversely influence the patient-physician relationship. This investigation aimed to identify and compare differences in the content and quality of online health information on overactive bladder (OAB) between different digital platforms.

METHODS

The platforms Google search, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube were searched for the keyword OAB. The search result links were classified as useful or misleading, advertisement and personal experience. Information regarding the organization of the source and available content on treatment modalities was collected. Descriptive analysis was applied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate heterogeneity regarding the distribution of information depending on the source. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The source with the highest quantity of useful content was YouTube (100%) and Google (100%), whereas LinkedIn included mostly misleading content (73%). YouTube and Google provided the greatest variety of health information and were dominated by professional associations. Surgical procedures for treating OAB were only described in 32% and 48% of Google and YouTube results, respectively. On Google, sacral neuromodulation and OnabotulinumtoxinA were described in 26% and bladder augmentation in only 16% of the search results. In contrast, alternative medicine was present in 76%.

CONCLUSIONS

A large gap in the information on surgical treatments of OAB could be identified independently from the utilized source. In contrast, conservative treatments and alternative medicine dominate the current informational sources.