Evaluating YouTube as a Good Resource for Enhancing Patient Understanding of Heart Failure.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to evaluate the content and quality of heart failure posts on the video-sharing site YouTube, which is an easily accessible source of information and is becoming increasingly popular in society for obtaining health information.

METHODS

In December 2023, we evaluated 162 videos after applying the exclusion criteria as a result of our search with the keyword "Heart Failure" on English-sharing sites. In addition to the technical data of the videos, such as views, duration, upload day, likes, and dislikes, we also used indices such as power index and popularity score in the analyses. We evaluated the quality of the videos using the DISCERN and global quality score scales, and the content using our content score scale. We classified the videos in the study into three quality subgroups according to the scores they received on all three scales.

RESULTS

The median number of views of the videos included in our study was 31092 (interquartile range (IQR): 3929-127758) and the median video duration was 336 (IQR: 189-843) seconds. The median popularity score was 28.25 (IQR: 4.7-143) and the median power index was 35139 (2061-308128). Group 1 (low quality) included 54 videos with a total score between 10 and 14, group 2 (medium quality) included 54 videos with a total score between 15 and 22, and group 3 (high quality) included 54 videos with a total score between 23 and 30. Views, upload day, and video duration were significantly higher for group 3 videos (p = 0.008, p = 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively). Likes and dislikes were not significantly different between groups. The popularity score was significantly higher for group 1 videos (39.5 (IQR: 6.5-200), p = 0.023), while the power index was significantly higher for group 3 videos (74206 (IQR: 9477-221408), p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm that YouTube, a video-sharing website, is essential for easily sharing and spreading health-related information to a broad audience. Increased attention to videos with scientific content and high-quality scores suggests that YouTube provides accurate and quality information about heart failure. While the number of quality posts tends to increase daily, healthcare professionals should be encouraged to share high-quality scientific videos more frequently.