Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32537771›Full record

ArticleReviews in medical virology2020

YouTube as a source of patient information for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): A content-quality and audience engagement analysis.

Tomasz Szmuda, Mohammad Talha Syed, Akshita Singh, Shan Ali, Cathrine Özdemir, Paweł Słoniewski

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Reviews in medical virology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. YouTube as a possible learning platform for patients and their family caregivers for gastrostomy tube feeding: A cross-sectional study.Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2025
    Article
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  14. Analysis of YouTubeMaternal and child health journal · 2023
    Article
  15. Article
  16. COVID-19 Vaccine Videos: Health Literacy Considerations.Health literacy research and practice · 2023
    Article
  17. Observational
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tomasz SzmudaNeurosurgery Department, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1904-6773
Mohammad Talha SyedScientific Circle of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Department, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0357-6008
Akshita SinghScientific Circle of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Department, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-1402
Shan AliScientific Circle of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Department, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0005-8830
Cathrine ÖzdemirScientific Circle of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Department, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4461-1255
Paweł SłoniewskiNeurosurgery Department, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8295-2336

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

YouTube is the second most popular website in the world and is increasingly being used as a platform for disseminating health information. Our aim was to evaluate the content-quality and audience engagement of YouTube videos pertaining to the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)-CoV-2 virus which causes the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), during the early phase of the pandemic. We chose the first 30 videos for seven different search phrases: "2019 nCoV," "SARS CoV-2," "COVID-19 virus," "coronavirus treatment," "coronavirus explained," "what is the coronavirus" and "coronavirus information." Video contents were evaluated by two independent medical students with more than 5 years of experience using the DISCERN instrument. Qualitative data, quantitative data and upload source for each video was noted for a quality and audience engagement analysis. Out of the total 210 videos, 137 met our inclusion criteria and were evaluated. The mean DISCERN score was 31.33 out of 75 possible points, which indicates that the quality of YouTube videos on COVID-19 is currently poor. There was excellent reliability between the two raters (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.96). 55% of the videos discussed prevention, 49% discussed symptoms and 46% discussed the spread of the virus. Most of the videos were uploaded by news channels (50%) and education channels (40%). The quality of YouTube videos on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 is poor, however, we have listed the top-quality videos in our article as they may be effective tools for patient education during the pandemic.

Indexed as

PandemicsSocial MediaBetacoronavirusCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19HumansInformation DisseminationPatient Education as TopicPatient ParticipationPneumonia, ViralPublic HealthQuality ControlSARS-CoV-22019 nCoVcoronavirusCOVID-19InternetSARS-CoV-2YouTube quality

Identifiers

PMID32537771
PMCPMC7323134

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.