The Quality Divide: How Academic and Private Medical YouTube Content Affects Patient Education

Background: This research delves into the impact of YouTube videos from academic and private sources on understanding Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While academic platforms usually offer evidence-based and scientifically verified information, private sources may lack rigorous quality controls and could be more anecdotal or commercial. Due to YouTube’s widespread influence and absence of formal editorial review, there’s a risk of misinformation proliferating. These content quality and credibility inconsistencies can significantly affect patient education and treatment outcomes for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Methods: We conducted a YouTube search using the keywords “Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome” and “IBS” to identify relevant videos. Those that were not in English, irrelevant to the topic, or lacked audio were omitted. We collected various attributes of the videos, such as the number of views, likes, dislikes, comments, and the nature of the source (either academic or private). Subsequently, these videos were classified as either reliable or unreliable based on their scientific accuracy. Assessment tools like DISCERN, Global Quality Score (GQS), and the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) were employed to evaluate the quality of the videos. The consistency among seven researchers in using these evaluation tools was measured through intraclass correlation. Results: We analyzed 51 YouTube videos, of which 28 were academic (54.9%) and 23 were private (45.1%). Academic videos surpassed private ones in various quality metrics, including DISCERN scores (90±11.5 vs. 60±9.07, p=0.038), Global Quality Scores (4.6 vs. 3.2, p=0.011), and PEMAT ratings (4.1 vs. 2.2, p=0.022). Moreover, we observed a positive association between academic videos and user engagement indicators such as the number of likes (Odds Ratio: 0.65, P< 0.011), subscribers (Odds Ratio: 0.78, P< 0.0001), and views (Odds Ratio: 1.32, P< 0.05). Conclusions: Our study reveals significant disparities in the quality of YouTube videos focused on irritable bowel syndrome. Academic videos consistently outperformed private ones in measures of accuracy and reliability, as shown by higher DISCERN, Global Quality Score, and PEMAT ratings. Furthermore, academic videos were positively correlated with user engagement metrics like likes, subscribers, and views. These findings highlight the need to direct patients toward academically supported information to minimize the risk of encountering misinformation.