Elsevier

Urology

Volume 75, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 619-622
Urology

Oncology
YouTube as Source of Prostate Cancer Information

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urology.2008.07.059Get rights and content

Objectives

Patients can search the Internet for prostate cancer information, and YouTube is a popular Web site that they may consult. We analyzed the prostate cancer videos on YouTube for information content and the presence of bias.

Methods

YouTube was searched for videos about prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, radiotherapy, and surgery for prostate cancer. The included videos were in English and <10 minutes long. Two physician viewers watched each video and assigned a score for information content (excellent, fair, poor) and bias (for, against, neutral, or balanced). A third viewer arbitrated any discrepancies. The kappa statistic was used to measure interobserver variability, and Pearson's test was used to assess correlation.

Results

A total of 14 PSA videos, 5 radiotherapy videos, and 32 surgery videos were analyzed. The PSA testing videos averaged 1480 ± 2196 views and 146 ± 174 s long and had an average viewer rating of 3.1 ± 2.1 (viewer rating scale 0-5). The surgery videos averaged 2044 ± 3740 views and 172 ± 122 s long and had an average viewer rating of scored 3 ± 2.2. The radiotherapy videos averaged 287 ± 255 views and 97 ± 45 s long and had a score of 1.8 ± 2.5. The information content was fair or poor for 73% of all videos. The bias for surgery, radiotherapy, or PSA testing was present in 69% of videos; 0% of videos were biased against treatment or PSA testing. The interobserver variability was well above than expected by chance alone.

Conclusions

The results of our study have shown that although some videos are robust sources of information, given the preponderance of modest and unbalanced information among reviewed videos, YouTube is an inadequate source of prostate cancer information for patients.

Section snippets

Material and Methods

Using methods used previously,8 3 distinct searches were conducted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) for videos pertaining to PSA testing, radiotherapy, and surgical therapy for prostate cancer:

  • January 5, 2008—search using the terms prostate-specific antigen; prostate cancer and PSA; and prostate cancer and diagnosis

  • January 27, 2008—search using the search string: prostate cancer and radiotherapy, and prostate and radiotherapy.

  • February 9, 2008—search using the following terms: prostatectomy;

Results

We found 228 unique videos. A total of 26 on PSA testing, 28 on radiotherapy, and 123 on surgery videos were excluded, most often for content unrelated to prostate cancer (Table 1). The remaining 14 PSA videos, 5 radiotherapy videos, and 32 surgery videos were analyzed. The information content went to arbitration in 14 surgery, 2 PSA, and 2 radiotherapy videos. Bias was arbitrated in 6 surgery videos and 2 videos each for PSA and radiotherapy.

All but 3 surgery videos were geared toward lay

Comment

We assessed YouTube videos pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer for information content and bias. Among the reviewed videos, 73% had fair or poor information content, and just more than two thirds of the videos were biased in favor of PSA testing or treatment of prostate cancer. No videos in our search were biased against PSA testing or the treatment of prostate cancer. Not surprisingly, longer videos tended to have more information; however, information content was

Conclusions

Given the modest information available on YouTube regarding prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, it is incumbent on urologists to counsel patients regarding other available Internet information sources on prostate cancer. Although some videos, especially those related to prostatectomy, are useful adjuncts, YouTube is not a reliable source of information for individual patients seeking to better understand the screening for, and management of, prostate cancer.

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