The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube
Background Numerous online videos are available on sound therapy as a treatment modality for tinnitus, but it is uncertain if these videos are adequate for patient education. This study aims to evaluate the quality and reliability of tinnitus sound therapy videos on YouTube for patient education. Me...
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PeerJ Inc.
2024-02-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/16846.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797326521891815424 |
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| author | Chao Huang Hongli Lan Fan Jiang Yu Huang Dan Lai |
| author_facet | Chao Huang Hongli Lan Fan Jiang Yu Huang Dan Lai |
| author_sort | Chao Huang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Numerous online videos are available on sound therapy as a treatment modality for tinnitus, but it is uncertain if these videos are adequate for patient education. This study aims to evaluate the quality and reliability of tinnitus sound therapy videos on YouTube for patient education. Methods YouTube videos were searched using keywords related to “tinnitus sound therapy”. The top 100 videos were analyzed after excluding those were repetitive, irrelevant, less than 3 min, or not in English. After categorising the videos based on their authorship and content, the video power index (VPI) was relied to determine their popularity. The DISCERN questionnaire (DISCERN), the Global Quality Score (GQS), the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria (JAMA), and the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) were utilized to evaluate the quality, transparency, and patient education. Results Over half (56%) of the videos were published by professional organizations. A total of 93% of them contained sound only. Only 17% followed the recommendations of the Clinical Management of Tinnitus Guidelines, and 3% provided literature referenced by the video. A variety types of sound were used, among which music accounting for 35%. The videos were highly popular with an average views of 7,335,003.28 ± 24,174,764.02 and an average VPI of 4,610.33 ± 11,531.10. However, their quality was poor (the median scores: 38/80 for DISCERN, 2/5 for GQS, 1/4 for JAMA, and 50%/100% for PEMAT). There was a negative correlation between the popularity of the videos and their quality, indicated by PEMAT: −0.207, DISCERN: −0.307, GQS: −0.302, and JAMA: −0.233. Several dimensions of the videos require improvement, especially actionability, treatment options, and transparency with lacks of 100%, 63%, and 75% respectively. Conclusion The tinnitus sound therapy videos available on YouTube exhibit low quality. Nevertheless, they also hold potential for health education if refined and utilized suitably. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T06:24:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8917c1f033234caf9424ca723a14dc63 |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T06:24:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
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| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-8917c1f033234caf9424ca723a14dc632024-02-03T15:05:12ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592024-02-0112e1684610.7717/peerj.16846The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTubeChao HuangHongli LanFan JiangYu HuangDan LaiBackground Numerous online videos are available on sound therapy as a treatment modality for tinnitus, but it is uncertain if these videos are adequate for patient education. This study aims to evaluate the quality and reliability of tinnitus sound therapy videos on YouTube for patient education. Methods YouTube videos were searched using keywords related to “tinnitus sound therapy”. The top 100 videos were analyzed after excluding those were repetitive, irrelevant, less than 3 min, or not in English. After categorising the videos based on their authorship and content, the video power index (VPI) was relied to determine their popularity. The DISCERN questionnaire (DISCERN), the Global Quality Score (GQS), the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria (JAMA), and the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) were utilized to evaluate the quality, transparency, and patient education. Results Over half (56%) of the videos were published by professional organizations. A total of 93% of them contained sound only. Only 17% followed the recommendations of the Clinical Management of Tinnitus Guidelines, and 3% provided literature referenced by the video. A variety types of sound were used, among which music accounting for 35%. The videos were highly popular with an average views of 7,335,003.28 ± 24,174,764.02 and an average VPI of 4,610.33 ± 11,531.10. However, their quality was poor (the median scores: 38/80 for DISCERN, 2/5 for GQS, 1/4 for JAMA, and 50%/100% for PEMAT). There was a negative correlation between the popularity of the videos and their quality, indicated by PEMAT: −0.207, DISCERN: −0.307, GQS: −0.302, and JAMA: −0.233. Several dimensions of the videos require improvement, especially actionability, treatment options, and transparency with lacks of 100%, 63%, and 75% respectively. Conclusion The tinnitus sound therapy videos available on YouTube exhibit low quality. Nevertheless, they also hold potential for health education if refined and utilized suitably.https://peerj.com/articles/16846.pdfTinnitusSound therapyPatient educationMedical informaticPublic healthOtology |
| spellingShingle | Chao Huang Hongli Lan Fan Jiang Yu Huang Dan Lai The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube PeerJ Tinnitus Sound therapy Patient education Medical informatic Public health Otology |
| title | The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube |
| title_full | The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube |
| title_fullStr | The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube |
| title_full_unstemmed | The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube |
| title_short | The quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on YouTube |
| title_sort | quality and reliability of patient education regarding sound therapy videos for tinnitus on youtube |
| topic | Tinnitus Sound therapy Patient education Medical informatic Public health Otology |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/16846.pdf |
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