The quality and reliability of YouTube video resources concerning patient education for Parkinson’s disease: An electronic media-based study

BackgroundParkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that contributes to the growing global health burden. YouTube has emerged as a ubiquitous source of health information among patients and their caregivers. Despite the increasing use of video-sharing platforms, the educational quality and reliability of Parkinson's disease-related videos remain unknown.MethodsThis cross-sectional study evaluated 147 Parkinson's disease-related YouTube videos. The research team collected general video information, and three instruments (Global Quality Score, modified DISCERN tool, and Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool) were applied to assess overall quality, reliability, and content understandability and actionability. Descriptive analyses were conducted overall, followed by detailed comparisons across the videos. Finally, using the Spearman correlation coefficient, we explored potential correlations between general video information and video quality and reliability.ResultsIn this study, we observed moderate overall quality and reliability when assessed using the Global Quality Score, modified DISCERN tool, and Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool instruments.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated that YouTube contains substantial publicly available Parkinson disease-related content; however, the quality and reliability of the content varies and is generally inadequate to facilitate patient education. To better serve patients with Parkinson disease and their caregivers, multifaceted actions from healthcare professionals, science communicators, and internet platforms are necessary to elevate the quality and visibility of credible content.