Study on the Quality, Relevance, and Comparability of YouTube Videos Expressing Stroke and Its Consequences From Various Sources

Background and objective Stroke-related deaths have been one of the major causes of death worldwide due to its rising risk factors. As a result, several people rely on YouTube as a great source of information on stroke without knowing the genuineness of the content. This study aims to assess the quality and reliability of the information on stroke uploaded on the YouTube platform using the Global Quality score (GQS) and DISCERN score (DS), respectively. Methodology A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in April 2023. Stroke-related keywords were used to search for videos on YouTube. Videos that met inclusion criteria were evaluated for baseline characteristics (likes, comments, views, duration of video, time since posted, and uploader type) and type of information in the video about stroke (symptoms, etiology, treatment, and other parameters). These videos were then evaluated for quality and reliability of information using GQS and DS, respectively. Results After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria and removing the duplicates, 73 YouTube videos were selected. The videos had a total number of 23,927,445 views, 385,324 likes, and 31,927 comments. Maximum videos were uploaded by hospitals (25, 34.2%). Several videos described the symptoms (54, 73.97%), treatment (50, 68.49%), and etiology (49, 67.12%) of stroke. The reach of videos measured by the Video Power Index (VPI) was highest for videos uploaded by healthcare organizations (mean VPI = 120.11). There was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in the quality (GQS score) and reliability (DS) of videos uploaded by doctors, hospitals, healthcare organizations, and news channels. Conclusions YouTube can become an important source to disseminate information about health-related conditions like stroke if the videos uploaded are of high quality (GQS score) and reliable (DS).