COVID-19 Information on YouTube: Analysis of Quality and Reliability of Videos in Eleven Widely Spoken Languages across Africa

INTRODUCTION: Whilst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rollout is well underway, there is a concern in Africa where less than 2% of global vaccinations have occurred. In the absence of herd immunity, health promotion remains essential. YouTube has been widely utilised as a source of medical information in previous outbreaks and pandemics. There are limited data on COVID-19 information on YouTube videos, especially in languages widely spoken in Africa. This study investigated the quality and reliability of such videos. METHODS: Medical information related to COVID-19 was analysed in 11 languages (English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Nigerian Pidgin, Hausa, Twi, Arabic, Amharic, French, and Swahili). Cohen's Kappa was used to measure inter-rater reliability. A total of 562 videos were analysed. Viewer interaction metrics and video characteristics, source, and content type were collected. Quality was evaluated using the Medical Information Content Index (MICI) scale and reliability was evaluated by the modified DISCERN tool. RESULTS: Kappa coefficient of agreement for all languages was p < 0.01. Informative videos (471/562, 83.8%) accounted for the majority, whilst misleading videos (12/562, 2.13%) were minimal. Independent users (246/562, 43.8%) were the predominant source type. Transmission of information (477/562 videos, 84.9%) was most prevalent, whilst content covering screening or testing was reported in less than a third of all videos. The mean total MICI score was 5.75/5 (SD 4.25) and the mean total DISCERN score was 3.01/5 (SD 1.11). CONCLUSION: YouTube is an invaluable, easily accessible resource for information dissemination during health emergencies. Misleading videos are often a concern; however, our study found a negligible proportion. Whilst most videos were fairly reliable, the quality of videos was poor, especially noting a dearth of information covering screening or testing. Governments, academic institutions, and healthcare workers must harness the capability of digital platforms, such as YouTube to contain the spread of misinformation.