Evaluation of the Reliability and Quality of YouTube Videos on Ovarian Cysts

Aim The aim of this study is to investigate the quality and reliability of YouTube videos containing content related to ovarian cysts. Methods The search terms “Ovarian Cyst”, “Ovarian Cyst Symptoms”, “Ovarian Cyst Treatment”, and “Ovarian Cyst Diagnosis” were searched on YouTube. A total of 110 videos were examined and repetitive videos, non-English videos, videos with advertising content, videos with entertainment and news content, and videos with very poor image and sound quality were excluded. Finally, the videos included in the study were evaluated using DISCERN and Global Quality Scale (GQS). Results It was found that 50 videos examined in this study were uploaded between the years 2014 and 2020, with an average of 492.252 ± 710.768 and a total of 24.612.595 views. The mean DISCERN score given to 50 videos analyzed by two researchers was 2.81 ± 1.3 and the mean GQS score was 2.88 ± 1.4. When we divided the scores given to the videos by two researchers into three groups, it was determined that 27 (54%) of the 50 videos were in the misleading/poor quality group, nine (18%) were in the medium quality group, and 14 (28%) were in the useful/quality group. Conclusion It has been determined that the videos with "ovarian cyst" content on YouTube are generally of poor quality. Bad quality videos were uploaded by non-doctors and attracted more attention than videos uploaded by doctors.