Celiac disease on YouTube - a study of the Polish content available on the popular video-sharing website

• Published in: Polski merkuriusz lekarski Vol. 43; no. 256; p. 168
• Main Authors: Kiedrowski, Mirosław, Mróz, Andrzej, Gajewska, Danuta, Nurzyński, Paweł, Deptała, Andrzej
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Poland 23.10.2017
• Subjects: Celiac Disease - diagnosis; Celiac Disease - pathology; Diet, Gluten-Free; Humans; Internet; Patient Education as Topic; Poland; health education; celiac disease; social media
• ISSN: 1426-9686

Celiac disease affects about 1% of the population. Since most Polish households have a broadband Internet connection, a lot of people use web resources to learn about health and disease. YouTube service (www.youtube.com) offers a lot of videos concerning celiac disease. However, the credibility of the Polish videos available on YouTube and concerning celiac disease has never been analyzed. The aim of the study was to determine whether the YouTube service offers valuable content for Polish people affected by celiac disease. One hundred and fifty-four unique videos devoted to celiac disease and available in the Polish language were identified and critically assessed. Each video was categorized due to its topic(s), and evaluated for its credibility by two independent researchers. In general, 127 (82.5%) videos were found to be credible. The most credible categories of content presented organizations and events related to celiac disease/celiac society, followed by culinary recipes (100.0, 100.0, and 95.6% of credible videos, respectively). The least trustworthy categories were devoted to pathobiology and advertisements (55.6 and 54.3% of credible videos, respectively). YouTube service can serve as a supplementary source of knowledge for people affected by celiac disease, after careful selection of trustworthy content.