The usefulness and validity of English-language videos on YouTube as an educational resource for spondyloarthritis.

BACKGROUND

YouTube is a popular online platform where patients often visit for information. However, the validity of the content on spondyloarthritis (SpA) on YouTube is not known.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the content, reliability, and quality of the most viewed English-language YouTube videos on SpA.

METHODS

Keywords "spondyloarthritis," "spondyloarthropathy," and "ankylosing spondylitis" were searched on YouTube on October 7, 2019. The top 270 videos were screened. Videos were excluded if they were irrelevant, in non-English language, or if they had no audio. Total number of views, duration on YouTube (days), video length, upload date, and number of likes, dislikes, subscribers, and comments were recorded for videos. A modified 5-point DISCERN tool and the 5-point Global Quality Scale (GQS) score were used to assess the reliability and quality of the videos.

RESULTS

Two hundred videos were included in the final analysis (62% from healthcare professionals, 37% from patients, and 2% from news channels). Useful information, useful patient opinion, misleading patient opinion, and misleading information comprised o60%, 26%, 11%, and 3% of videos respectively. Majority of misleading videos were uploaded by patients (82%). Misleading videos commonly included wrong clinical features and unproven alternative treatments of SpA. Videos by healthcare professionals had more useful information, higher reliability, and GQS scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Majority of YouTube videos have useful information on SpA and are important educational sources to patients. However, rheumatologists should be aware that misleading patient opinions on alternative therapies can contain inaccurate information and should hence actively correct these misinformation during their clinic consults Key Points • The majority of videos on Spondyloarthritis found on YouTube are deemed useful and are uploaded by healthcare professionals. • The majority of misleading videos were uploaded by patients and the main theme of misinformation was on clinical features and treatment of spondyloarthritis.