Harvard University, United States of America.
New York University School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, United States of America.
J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2024 Oct;165:209475. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209475. Epub 2024 Aug 5.
Most Americans now access social media platforms, including YouTube, to obtain health information. However, few studies have evaluated the quality of YouTube content related to opioid use disorder (OUD), including medications for OUD (MOUD; buprenorphine) and harm reduction resources (e.g., naloxone). The purpose of this cross-sectional analysis was to assess the quality, accuracy, and reliability of MOUD and harm reduction-related video content available on YouTube.
The study team conducted a YouTube search between June 2022 and July 2022 using key words related to MOUD and harm reduction content (e.g., "suboxone," "methadone," "Narcan"). The 5 most viewed videos from each search term were analyzed for quality (i.e., Global Quality Scale; GQS), accuracy (i.e., JAMA Benchmark Criteria), and reliability (i.e., DISCERN). Videos that were non-English, duplicate, or that did not directly mention OUD, MOUD, or harm reduction were excluded from the review (N = 6).
YouTube videos (N = 70) were mostly produced by medical professionals (27.1 %), independent nonmedical users (21.4 %; e.g., vloggers, individuals documenting their experiences), medical organizations (17.1 %; e.g., hospitals, treatment programs), and/or media (14.3 %; e.g., news agencies). The target audience was primarily the general public (65.7 %), people who use opioids (20.0 %), and healthcare providers (10.0 %). Videos containing MOUD content (N = 64, 61.4 %) mostly focused on suboxone (25.0 %), methadone (23.4 %), Sublocade (14.1 %), and subutex/buprenorphine (14.1 %). The median quality score was 2 based on the GQS with 3 videos receiving the highest quality rating (5). Two videos were highly rated for accuracy per all three JAMA Benchmark criteria. Videos produced by nonmedical educational channels had the highest overall reliability scores on the DISCERN criteria (median 4), followed by medical professionals (median 3), and medical organizations (median 2.5).
The overall quality, accuracy, and reliability of MOUD and harm reduction related content posted on YouTube is poor. The lack of evidence-based content posted on YouTube reinforces the need for public health expert involvement in disseminating guideline-based content on social media.
现在，大多数美国人都会通过社交媒体平台（包括 YouTube）获取健康信息。然而，很少有研究评估与阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）相关的 YouTube 内容的质量，包括 OUD 的治疗药物（例如丁丙诺啡）和减少伤害资源（例如纳洛酮）。本横断面分析的目的是评估可在 YouTube 上获得的 OUD 治疗药物和减少伤害相关视频内容的质量、准确性和可靠性。
研究团队于 2022 年 6 月至 7 月期间使用与 OUD 治疗药物和减少伤害相关的关键词（例如“suboxone”“methadone”“Narcan”）在 YouTube 上进行了搜索。对每个搜索词的前 5 个观看次数最多的视频进行质量（即全球质量量表；GQS）、准确性（即 JAMA 基准标准）和可靠性（即 DISCERN）分析。从审查中排除非英语、重复或未直接提及 OUD、OUD 治疗药物或减少伤害的视频（N=6）。
YouTube 视频（N=70）主要由医疗专业人员（27.1%）、独立的非医疗用户（21.4%；例如，视频博主、记录个人经历的人）、医疗组织（17.1%；例如，医院、治疗项目）和/或媒体（14.3%；例如，新闻机构）制作。目标受众主要是普通公众（65.7%）、阿片类药物使用者（20.0%）和医疗保健提供者（10.0%）。包含 OUD 治疗药物内容的视频（N=64，61.4%）主要集中在丁丙诺啡（25.0%）、美沙酮（23.4%）、Sublocade（14.1%）和丁丙诺啡舌下片/丁丙诺啡（14.1%）。根据 GQS，中位数质量评分为 2 分，其中 3 个视频获得了最高质量评级（5 分）。根据所有三个 JAMA 基准标准，有 2 个视频的准确性评分很高。非医学教育频道制作的视频在 DISCERN 标准中的整体可靠性得分最高（中位数为 4），其次是医疗专业人员（中位数为 3）和医疗组织（中位数为 2.5）。
发布在 YouTube 上的 OUD 治疗药物和减少伤害相关内容的整体质量、准确性和可靠性较差。YouTube 上缺乏基于证据的内容，这加强了需要公共卫生专家参与在社交媒体上传播基于指南的内容。
