Youtube is an unreliable source of information about delayed ejaculation treatment

Abstract

Background: Social platforms such as YouTube have become sources of information about diseases as they can be easily and rapidly accessed. However, this also has the risk of ill-intentioned content and misleading information. Objective: To evaluate the reliability of YouTube video content about delayed ejaculation treatment. Material and methods: YouTube videos were searched using the terms “delayed ejaculation,” “retarded ejaculation,” “inhibited ejaculation,” and “anejaculation.” Videos were excluded if they were not in English, were not related to the subject, or did not have audio and visual content. In accordance with the scientifically proven accurate information, the videos were separated as reliable (Group 2, n: 112) and unreliable videos (Group 1, n: 94). The groups were compared in respect of the video characteristics, and the scores obtained in the DISCERN-5, Global Quality Scale, the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool Audiovisual, and the Journal of the American Medical Association scales. Intraclass correlation test was used to evaluate the level of agreement between the two investigators. Results: Of the 1200 videos, 994 were excluded. No significant difference was determined between the Group 1 and Group 2 in respect of the median number of views [1672 (4555) vs 1547 (28,559), p = 0.63] and likes [10 (42) vs 17 (255), p = 0.07]. There was a greater number of videos in the Group 2 (54.4%) and the points obtained on the scoring scales were significantly higher than the Group 1 ( p < 0.001). The videos originating from universities/professional organizations/non-profit physician/physician group were comprised the majority of the reliable videos (55.3%) and the unreliable videos had more content related to treatment (71.4%) ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: Although there was a greater number of reliable videos related to the problem of delayed ejaculation, the content could be misleading and should be avoided by patients seeking treatment without consulting a physician.