YouTube as a source of (mis)information on allergic rhinitis

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Celine Lund Nielsen Remvig
  • Caroline Skovsgaard Diers
  • Hanieh Meteran
  • Thomsen, Simon Francis
  • Torben Sigsgaard
  • Simon Høj
  • Howraman Meteran

Background: Allergic rhinitis is a very common chronic condition that affects nearly one-quarter of the adult population worldwide. The optimal management of allergic rhinitis includes useful information on several aspects of the condition. Social media and online platforms are increasingly being used to obtain health-related information. Objective: The study aimed to evaluate and evaluate the popularity and usefulness of YouTube videos on allergic rhinitis. Methods: Out of 225 screened videos, 86 met the inclusion criteria. A scoring scheme was designed to evaluate and rate the content of the extracted data. Data on views, likes, dislikes, and comments were extracted, and data on the source of uploader, duration, and content quality were recorded. Results: A total of 43% of the videos were classified as useful, 36% as misleading, and 21% as neither useful nor misleading. Although professional health care providers uploaded two-thirds of the videos, they accounted for only 24.4% of the total videos. Videos uploaded by television shows and YouTube channels had by far the most user interaction, accounting for 66.9% of the total likes, 66.8% of the total dislikes, and 54.0% of the total comments. This source alone accounted for 23.4% of the total views, but for 48% of the total misleading videos. Conclusion: The usefulness of YouTube videos on allergic rhinitis is varying and less than half of the videos provided useful information. If the proper conditions are met, selected YouTube videos on allergic rhinitis can be used as a source of information for patient education.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAnnals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
Volume129
Pages (from-to)612-617
Number of pages6
ISSN1081-1206
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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© 2022 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

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