Lyme Disease and YouTubeTM: A Cross-Sectional Study of Video Contents

OBJECTIVES: Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease. People seek health information on Lyme disease from YouTube(TM) videos. In this study, we investigated if the contents of Lyme disease-related YouTube(TM) videos varied by their sources. METHODS: Most viewed English YouTube(TM) videos (n = 100) were identified and manually coded for contents and sources. RESULTS: Within the sample, 40 videos were consumer-generated, 31 were internet-based news, 16 were professional, and 13 were TV news. Compared with consumer-generated videos, TV news videos were more likely to mention celebrities (odds ratio [OR], 10.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.13–52.58), prevention of Lyme disease through wearing protective clothing (OR, 5.63; 95% CI, 1.23–25.76), and spraying insecticides (OR, 7.71; 95% CI, 1.52–39.05). CONCLUSION: A majority of the most popular Lyme disease-related YouTube(TM) videos were not created by public health professionals. Responsible reporting and creative video-making facilitate Lyme disease education. Partnership with YouTube(TM) celebrities to co-develop educational videos may be a future direction.