Research Article: Evaluation of the quality and reliability of anal cancer and its precancerous lesions-related content on YouTube: a cross-sectional study
Abstract:
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.
Introduction:
Anal squamous cell cancer (ASCC) is a type of relatively rare malignant tumour of the digestive tract, but its incidence and mortality rate have increased annually in the USA by 2.7% and 3.1%, respectively. 1 ASCC is considered the most common pathological type of anal cancer and anal intraepithelial neoplasm (AIN) is deemed to be the precancerous lesion for ASCC. 2 Unlike cervical cancer, which has a well-established screening system and is prevalent among sexually active women, the screening for ASCC and AIN…
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