Analysis of the Most Viewed First 50 Videos on YouTube about Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women worldwide. Today, health consumers search the Internet to gain health information about many diseases including breast cancer. YouTube™ is the second most commonly used website on the Internet. However, the quality and accuracy of health-related YouTube™ videos are controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the quality and accuracy of breast cancer-related videos on YouTube™. Material and Methods. “Breast cancer” keyword was entered into YouTube™ search bar, and after excluding advertisement, duplicate, and non-English videos, the first most viewed 50 videos were analyzed. Videos' length, the number of views, comments, likes, and dislikes were recorded. DISCERN and JAMA scores and Video Power Index (VPI) values of the videos were calculated. All videos were evaluated by two independent radiologists experienced on breast cancer. The correlation between the two observers was also analyzed. RESULTS: Of all videos, 14% were uploaded by physicians, 26% by health channels, 20% by patients, 10% by news channels, 2% by herbalists, 2% by blog channels, and 2% by nonprofit activism channels. The mean DISCERN score was calculated as 26.70 ± 10.99 and the mean JAMA score as 2.23 ± 0.97. The mean VPI value, which was calculated to determine the popularity of the videos, was found as 94.10 ± 4.48. A strong statistically significant correlation was found between the two observers in terms of both DISCERN and JAMA scores. There was an excellent agreement between the two observers. CONCLUSION: The overall quality of the viewed videos was found as poor. Healthcare professionals should be encouraged to upload breast cancer-related videos with accurate information to promote patients for screening and direct them appropriately.