An analysis of YouTube content about psychobiotics: Is the food and mood bond getting stronger?

Abstract

Aim: Psychobiotics have become a popular topic in recent years both on social media and in academia. The effects of individuals' diets and the probiotic supplements they use on their mental state have made psychobiotics a subject of curiosity. Our aim in this research is to evaluate the content of YouTube videos about psychobiotics. Materials and Methods: On 13/12/2023, the content of the first 50 english videos related to psychobiotics on YouTube was examined for quality and reliability and was independently evaluated by 2 separate medical professionals. Data such as likes, number of views, upload dates and uploaders of the videos were recorded. The content quality of the videos was recorded by calculating the DISCERN score and Global Quality Index score (GQS). Results: The mean duration of YouTube videos about psychobiotics was 14.35 minutes. The mean GQS and modified DISCERN scores of the videos were 3.70 and 3.87, respectively. The evaluation results of two independent medical professionals who watched the videos showed a high positive correlation in terms of both GQS and DISCERN scores (r: 0.905, r: 0.908). The duration, number of likes and daily view counts of professional videos were significantly higher (p :0.001). 62% of the videos were uploaded by health channels, 28% by healthcare professionals and 10% by other individuals. GQS (p:0.005) and DISCERN (p:0.007) scores of videos uploaded by health professionals and health channels were significantly higher than others. Conclusion: Since psychobiotics is known as a newly popular term among the public and in the academic field, it has been observed that YouTube videos in this field are relatively new, uploaded by more professional channels compared to other subjects, and have more satisfactory content than other fields in terms of quality and content. However, since the number of videos is low compared to more publicly known topics and it is a relatively new topic, it may be beneficial to increase the number and promotion of professional videos to increase society's knowledge about psychobiotics.