Does YouTube™ provide reliable information on oral candidiasis?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the quality, source, usefulness and/or reliability, visibility, and popularity of YouTube™ videos on oral candidiasis.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A YouTube™ search for "oral candidiasis" was performed, setting the English language. 133 of the 351 videos watched were included in the study. Two periodontologists scored the videos for visibility, popularity, quality, utility, and reliability. Videos' quality was evaluated using the DISCERN and the Global Quality Scale (GQS) tools, by categorizing them through quality assessment, source, duration, views, likes, and dislikes of each video were noted.

RESULTS

82.7% of the videos were moderately or very useful, and the GQS scores were mostly good (41.4%-Score 4) and excellent (42.1%-Score 5). Significant relationships were obtained between Source of Upload, Video Type, Total Discern, and GQS variables and Usefulness scores (p < 0.05). The 53.4% of the video sources were Healthcare professionals and their video usefulness scores were mostly "moderately useful" (47.9%) and "very useful" (%42.3). There was a significant positive correlation between the usefulness scores of the videos and the number of likes (p = 0.004), comments (p = 0.019), and the viewing rate (p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

The videos that rank high in searches for oral candidiasis on YouTube™ are mostly useful and comprehensive videos uploaded for educational purposes.