Quality of YouTube Videos on Meningioma Treatment Using the DISCERN Instrument

Abstract

To assess the quality of YouTube videos on meningioma treatment. A search was performed on YouTube using the keywords "meningioma treatment," "meningeal tumor treatment," "meningioma brain tumor treatment," "meningioma cure," and "meningioma therapy." Sixty-one videos were independently evaluated by 2 fifth-year medical students using the DISCERN scoring system for quality analysis. Quantitative data such as video length, source of upload, and popularity and their associations with DISCERN scores were also evaluated. The mean total DISCERN score was 36.4. Approximately a third of YouTube videos were classified as very poor, 32.8% as poor, 11.5% as fair, 16.4% as good, and 4.9% as excellent. The question "Does the video refer to areas of uncertainty?" obtained the lowest score (2.0), and the question "Does the video describe how each treatment works?" obtained the highest score (3.0). Videos authored by a health information channel had the highest mean total DISCERN score (46.7, standard deviation= 14.6). Videos had significantly higher DISCERN scores if they included information about the symptoms of meningioma, risk factors during treatment, prognosis, or included animations and diagrams. DISCERN scores were moderately positively correlated with duration of videos and referrers and moderately negatively correlated with number of channel subscribers, video power index, and average daily views. The information content on meningioma treatment in YouTube videos was generally poor. The impact of inaccurate YouTube videos on patients' understanding of meningioma treatment must be recognized by health care professionals.