YouTube: Searching for answers about breast cancer

Travis Brachtenbach · Raquel T. Cardenas · Heather Pate · Luanne V. Solis · Lauren Chinnery · Aaron Bowers +1 more

33 citations0/0 files storedBreast Disease

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Social Media in Health Education Misinformation and Its Impacts Health Literacy and Information Accessibility

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, affecting approximately 1 in 8 women worldwide. Additionally, it is either the most or second-most lethal cancer depending on ethnicity. Many women and concerned family members turn to the internet for information regarding the signs, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of this life-altering condition. We sought to objectively evaluate the quality of the information available on YouTube concerning breast cancer. METHODS: We searched YouTube for videos relating to breast cancer. We included videos that were less than 20 minutes in length, were in the top 200 for most views and were available in English, either subtitled or narrated. Videos were independently and blindly scored using a standardized scoring form. Possible scores ranged from negative infinity to 25.5 with one point being deducted for each misleading statement or claim. RESULTS: After exclusions, 133 videos in our sample were evaluated. Out of a possible 25.5 points, the true mean was 3.90 with a standard deviation of 1.38. There were only 30 videos (22.5%) that scored more than 7 points. 12 (9.0%) videos scored 0 points or fewer. 12 (9.0%) of the videos in our sample contained at least one misleading statement with 9 of those contained multiple misleading statements with some videos having up to 10 such statements. CONCLUSION: While YouTube is an important source of information regarding breast cancer, few videos contain a significant amount of quality information and many of the videos contain false or misleading statements. In an area where patients are often scared and searching for answers, there is a significant need for more high-quality videos to educate patients and dispel myths and pseudoscience.

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2018Dissemination of Misinformative and Biased Information about Prostate Cancer on YouTube 2015YouTube as a source of information on mouth (oral) cancer 2018The reliability of YouTube videos in patients education for Glioblastoma Treatment 2018YouTube Videos as a Source of Information on Colorectal Cancer: What Do Our Patients Learn?2015Popular on YouTube: A critical appraisal of the educational quality of information regarding asthma 2019Information on surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia on YouTube is highly biased and misleading 2015YouTube Videos Related to Skin Cancer: A Missed Opportunity for Cancer Prevention and Control 2018Are YouTube videos useful for patient self-education in type 2 diabetes?

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