Telemedicine and YouTube™: Video quality analysis before and after COVID-19 pandemic

Vincenzo Mirone; Marco Abate; Giovanni M. Fusco; Luigi Cirillo; Luigi Napolitano; Simone Morra; Francesco Di Bello; Gianluigi Califano; Claudia Mirone; Roberto La Rocca; Massimiliano Creta; Giuseppe Celentano; Marco Capece; Francesco Mangiapia; Nicola Longo; Claudia Collà Ruvolo

doi:10.4081/aiua.2023.11341

Authors

Vincenzo Mirone Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Marco Abate Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Giovanni M. Fusco Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Luigi Cirillo Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Luigi Napolitano Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Simone Morra Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5340-8569
Francesco Di Bello Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8585-3701
Gianluigi Califano
gianl.califano2@gmail.com
Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Claudia Mirone Multidisciplinary Department of Medical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy.
Roberto La Rocca Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Massimiliano Creta Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Giuseppe Celentano Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Marco Capece Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1951-404X
Francesco Mangiapia Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Nicola Longo Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.
Claudia Collà Ruvolo Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy.

Objective: To assess the quality content of YouTubeTM videos on telemedicine during COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: First, the frequency of worldwide YouTube™ and Google™ searches for telemedicine was analyzed. Second, we queried YouTube™ with telemedicine-related terms. Third, the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT A/V), the Global Quality Score (GQS), and the Misinformation tool were used for the quality assessment. Results: According to selection criteria, 129 videos were collected for the analysis. From January 2018 to January 2022, the peak relative interest on YouTube™ and Google™ occurred in March 2020. Of all, 27.1 and 72.9% were uploaded before (Jan 2018-Feb 2020) and after (Mar 2020-Mar 2022) the COVID-19 outbreak, respectively. According to the PEMAT A/V, the overall median understandability and actionability was 50.0% (33.3 [IQR 0-66.7] vs 50.0 [27.1-75], p = 0.2) and 66.7% (63.6 [IQR 50.0-75.7] vs 67.9 [50.0-79.2],p = 0.6), respectively. According to GQS, 3.9%, 17.8%, 24.0%, 26.4% and 27.9% were classified as excellent, good, medium, generally poor, and poor-quality videos, respectively. The highest rate of poor-quality videos was recorded in videos uploaded before COVID-19 pandemic (37.1 vs 24.5%). According to overall misinformation score, a higher score was recorded for the videos uploaded after COVID-19 pandemic (1.8 [IQR 1.4-2.3] vs 2.2 [1.8-2.8], p = 0.01). Conclusions: The interest in telemedicine showed a significant peak when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. However, the contents provided on YouTubeTM were not informative enough. In the future, official medical institutions should standardize telemedicine regulation and online content to reduce the widespread of misleading information.

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Mirone, V., Abate, M., Fusco, G. M., Cirillo, L., Napolitano, L., Morra, S., Di Bello, F., Califano, G., Mirone, C., La Rocca, R., Creta, M., Celentano, G., Capece, M., Mangiapia, F., Longo, N., & Collà Ruvolo, C. (2023). Telemedicine and YouTube™: Video quality analysis before and after COVID-19 pandemic. Archivio Italiano Di Urologia E Andrologia, 95(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/aiua.2023.11341