Chemotherapy Side Effects and Youtube Platform; What do Patients Watch?

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the content, quantity and reliability of YouTube videos in which the side effects of chemotherapy are explained in a country sample. Materials and Methods: It was searched in the search bar on YouTubeTM on 29 August 2022 using the keyword 'chemotherapy side effects'. 55 videos between 0-20 min were evaluated simultaneously by 3 independent experts using the Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information (DISCERN) scale and the Global Quality Scale (GQS). Results: The three most common uploader profiles were physician, patient and health-related website. The most of contents of the videos consisted of general chemotherapy and side effects, patient experiences. The DISCERN score average was 56, and the GQS was 3.00. When the scores of the video uploaders were compared, it was found that there was no significant difference between the scores of DISCERN (p=0.245) and GQS (p=0.647). There was a significant difference between the groups in the video duration, the number of likes and comments, and the rate of comments (p=0.001, 0.049, 0.004, 0.003, respectively). Conclusion: As a result, the quality of the information in the videos is good and the educational value is moderate. It has been determined that the videos uploaded by the patients are watched more, receive more likes and are viewed more frequently.