Evaluation of the quality and reliability of anal cancer and its precancerous lesions-related content on YouTube: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: This research aims at evaluating the quality of anal cancer and its precancerous lesions-related videos on YouTube. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey design. SETTING: USA. PARTICIPANTS: The top 150 videos on YouTube were selected for analysis based on three search terms. The duplicate, irrelevant, commercial, operation-related and audio-free videos were excluded. Finally, 105 relevant videos were included. METHODS: We assessed the completeness of video content from six dimensions and marked the men having sex with men (MSM)-related videos. To measure the video quality, DISCERN, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Criteria, Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) and Global Quality Scale (GQS) were used. The correlation between DISCERN classification and duration, JAMA, PEMAT and GQS scores were recorded. RESULTS: The video content was mainly about the management of the disease (mean score 1.086). Overall, the quality of videos uploaded by the non-profit organisation was relatively high. A correlation existed between each other of the JAMA, DISCERN and GQS scores (p<0.001). Moreover, they were positively correlated with video duration and PEMAT scores (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although the overall quality of information about anal cancer and its precancerous lesions videos on YouTube is acceptable, it might not fully meet the health information needs of patients. Therefore, they should exercise caution when using YouTube as a source of anal cancer-related information, especially the MSM population.