The quality and reliability analysis of YouTube videos about insulin resistance

• Published in: International journal of medical informatics (Shannon, Ireland) Vol. 170; p. 104960
• Main Authors: Barlas, Tugba, Ecem Avci, Doga, Cinici, Bengisu, Ozkilicaslan, Hande, Muhittin Yalcin, Mehmet, Eroglu Altinova, Alev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.02.2023
• Subjects: Discern score; Global Quality Scale; Health Personnel; Humans; Information Dissemination; Insulin Resistance; Insulins; Internet; Internet users; Online; Reproducibility of Results; Social Media; Discern score; T2DM; Internet users; Global Quality Scale; IGT; GQS; Insulin resistance; IDF; Online; VLR; VPI
• ISSN: 1386-5056; 1872-8243; 1872-8243
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2022.104960

•Videos about insulin resistance were very popular on YouTube.•The quality and reliability of videos were very low.•The videos with relatively higher quality had higher number of views, likes and comments. There is an increasing trend in the use of internet as a search tool for health-related informations. Insulin resistance is one of the most searched subjects online and some of the videos about insulin resistance have been watched by millions of YouTube users. This study aims to determine the quality and reliability of the most popular videos about insulin resistance on YouTube. On March 1, 2022, the term “insulin resistance” was searched on YouTube. The videos’ popularity was assessed with Video Power Index (VPI). The quality and reliability were assessed with DISCERN score, modified DISCERN score and global quality score (GQS). A total of 100 most popular videos were evaluated after applying the exclusion criteria. Fifty-four percent of the videos were very poor-poor, 35 % moderate, and 11 % good–excellent quality. Although few in number, the videos with relatively higher quality and more reliable had higher numbers of views, likes and comments (p < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between DISCERN score and VPI, duration, view, like, dislike, comment numbers of the videos (p < 0.01). Healthcare providers uploaded 58 % of the videos, while independent users uploaded 42 %. Video like ratio (VLR) at healthcare providers’ videos was significantly higher than independent users’ videos (p = 0.001). Despite the high viewing rates of YouTube videos about insulin resistance, the overall quality and reliability were found to be very low. However, when high quality content regarding popular medical topics is produced, more people can be informed correctly.