Curriculum Development and Research Unit, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Cancer Educ. 2020 Dec;35(6):1267-1277. doi: 10.1007/s13187-020-01763-9.
The incidence of thyroid cancer continues to increase worldwide. The challenge facing the treatment of thyroid cancers is related to the fact that this disease exhibits a broad range of clinical behaviour from indolent tumour to very aggressive malignancies. Therefore, the public and patient education about thyroid cancer are becoming a crucial step in facing the challenge imposed by this cancer. Currently, social media channels such as YouTube, a video-sharing website on the Internet, play a significant role in public and patient education. Research on the part of YouTube in public education about cancer is on the rise, including a paper on thyroid cancer published recently in the Journal of Cancer Education. However, researchers conducting studies should use tools that are designed to assess videos, not written information or websites. DISCERN instrument and JAMA benchmark tools are not intended to evaluate videos such as those of YouTube. An ideal instrument for assessing YouTube should cover several parameters to identify educationally useful videos, including (i) scientific accuracy of video content, (ii) clarity of the massage given, (iii) authority (creator), (iv) pedagogy and educational basis and (v) technical design, including quality images and good visuals, production style, quality scripts, clear sounds and no noises in the background. While video images help in reinforcing the words and the message, both picture and sound quality are vital in creating a strong mental impression and engaging the audience. This commentary calls for the development of a standardised protocol that can help researchers to enhance their research publications and ensure that adequate and accurate data have been collected and analysed. Such a move will help us in establishing the right literature in this area and will help researchers conducting reviews and meta-analysis on YouTube videos.
甲状腺癌的发病率在全球范围内持续上升。甲状腺癌治疗所面临的挑战与该病临床表现多样有关，从惰性肿瘤到侵袭性很强的恶性肿瘤均有。因此，公众和患者对甲状腺癌的教育正成为应对这一癌症挑战的关键步骤。目前，YouTube 等社交媒体在公众和患者教育中发挥着重要作用，YouTube 是一个互联网视频分享网站。关于 YouTube 在癌症公众教育中的研究越来越多，最近在《癌症教育杂志》上发表了一篇关于甲状腺癌的论文。然而，进行研究的研究人员应使用旨在评估视频的工具，而不是书面信息或网站。DISCERN 工具和 JAMA 基准工具并非用于评估 YouTube 等视频。评估 YouTube 的理想工具应涵盖几个参数，以识别具有教育意义的视频，包括：(i) 视频内容的科学准确性；(ii) 信息传达的清晰度；(iii) 权威性（创作者）；(iv) 教学法和教育基础；(v) 技术设计，包括高质量的图像和良好的视觉效果、制作风格、高质量的脚本、清晰的声音和背景中无噪音。虽然视频图像有助于加强文字和信息，但图像和声音质量对于形成强烈的心理印象和吸引观众至关重要。本评论呼吁制定一个标准化协议，帮助研究人员增强他们的研究出版物，并确保收集和分析了足够和准确的数据。这样的举措将有助于我们在该领域建立正确的文献，并帮助研究人员对 YouTube 视频进行综述和荟萃分析。
