BACKGROUND: Utilized in the healthcare sector, social media offers numerous benefits. However, its drawbacks encompass the variable quality of unregulated and unsupervised content. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the information in content related to chest pain found across Instagram and analyze the quality and reliability of chest pain-related content via Instagram posts.
METHODS: Instagram posts with content related to chest pain were analyzed with the help of a structured questionnaire that included the Global Quality Scale (GQS) and DISCERN score (DS). To collect Instagram posts, several distinct hashtags were employed: #chestpain, #chestpains, #angina, #anginatreatment, #heartattack, #heartattacksurvivor, #heartattackprevention.
RESULTS: A total of 262 posts were included, of which 29.7% of the total posts (n=78) contained information that describes the etiology of the disease. 27.8% of the total posts (n = 73) enclosed promotional content. Posts were found to be uploaded by doctors (18.7%), hospitals (15.6%), patients (17.9%), dieticians (11.1%), healthcare organizations (9.2%), and others (27.5%). Both Global Quality and DISCERN scores were statistically significant with a p-value of 0.001.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study revealed that most of the Instagram content on chest pain posted via physicians were highly reliable and had a better global quality score. Information regarding various causes, symptoms and preventive measures on Instagram can be considered as an acceptable source for patients to surf on. A major limitation is that only English content was analyzed. In the future, the use of higher quality posts produced by healthcare professionals could potentially contribute to enhancing patient education via Instagram.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is defined as a disorder of the brain characterized by an enduring predisposition to epileptic seizures. Being the most common neurological condition in the world, information regarding epilepsy is gathered by people from different available sources.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability and quality of YouTube videos about epilepsy as a source of information for the general population and also for patients suffering from this illness and for their families.
METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted, utilizing a questionnaire prepared on Google Forms (Google LLC, Mountain View, California, United States) with predetermined criteria. Each of the six authors independently searched and evaluated 10 YouTube videos using specific keywords. The assessment included determining the global quality score and utilizing the DISCERN tool. The collected data was recorded in Microsoft Excel and subsequently analyzed.
RESULTS: A total of 60 videos were analyzed, revealing that 76.27% of them provided information on the available treatment options for epilepsy, 71.19% explained the cause and etiology of the condition, and only 3.39% of the videos mentioned support groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the importance of assessment of medical information on social media platforms in order to ensure availability of correct information with high quality and reliability for epilepsy patients. This will help in understanding their medical health issues and decision making.

Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) encompasses a group of heterogeneous, chronic, and non-communicable diseases characterized by an increase in blood glucose levels. As it has become easily accessible for patients to know about their symptoms and treatment of diseases, it is of utmost importance that reliable information is conveyed on the internet. If not managed appropriately, it may result in the dissemination of false information, leading to risky practices and incorrect treatment, further resulting in detrimental consequences. Aim To assess the quality and reliability of information related to DM on YouTube. Methodology A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in April 2023, wherein top YouTube videos related to \'diabetes\' were analyzed for baseline characteristics, type of uploader, as well as quality and reliability using Global Quality Score (GQS) and Reliability Score (DISCEN), respectively. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results A total of 87 videos were evaluated in the study. Unfortunately, only 21% of those were uploaded by doctors. The median Video Power Index (VPI) for videos uploaded by other sources was the highest (184.7), and the lowest was for videos uploaded by hospitals (12.6), and this was statistically significant (p = 0.038). The median GQS was highest for videos uploaded by doctors (4) and lowest for videos uploaded by others (3.5). The reliability score was higher in videos uploaded by healthcare organizations (4), which was not significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions Videos uploaded by physicians and healthcare organizations contained reliable information with a high global quality score. Videos uploaded by sources other than doctors and healthcare professionals should consult physicians, as self-diagnosis or self-treatment can lead to potential harm to patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to assess the quality and reliability of the disease information available on YouTube (www.youtube.com) about \"heart attacks\" or myocardial infarctions, using a Global Quality Score (GQS) for quality, a DISCERN score for reliability, and a Video Power Index (VPI) for popularity.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional observational study, the YouTube videos were analyzed in terms of the type of uploader, content, and other factors. The GQS, DISCERN score, and Video Power Index (VPI) were utilized to assess the quality, reliability, and popularity of the information, respectively.
RESULTS: The majority of the videos (78.44%) were uploaded over a year ago. Only 33.34% and 7.84% were uploaded by doctors and healthcare organizations, respectively. Around 72.55% of the videos contained information about symptoms, 66.67% discussed the causes, 52.94% covered treatment, and 47.06% focused on prevention. Additionally, 41.18% provided details on investigations, while only 19.61% touched upon mortality. Patient-created videos accounted for 19.61% of the content, and 15.69% of the videos included promotional material.
CONCLUSIONS: The main outcome of our study indicates that the YouTube videos examined regarding myocardial infarctions exhibit high-quality content, as supported by a higher average GQS score. The consistent quality of information discovered in our study suggests that YouTube can serve as an additional platform for sharing knowledge and educating individuals about this important health condition. By raising awareness and delivering accurate information, these videos can help in early detection, prevention, and better outcomes for individuals who are at risk of experiencing a myocardial infarction.

Liver cancer incidence has been increasing in China in the recent years, leading to increased public concern regarding the burden of this disease. Short videos on liver cancer are disseminated through TikTok and Bilibili apps, which have gained popularity in recent years as an easily accessible source of health information. However, the credibility, quality, and usefulness of the information in these short videos and the professional knowledge of the individuals uploading health information-based videos in these platforms have not yet been evaluated.
Our study aims to assess the quality of the information in Chinese short videos on liver cancer shared on the TikTok and Bilibili short video-sharing platforms.
In March 2023, we assessed the top 100 Chinese short videos on liver cancer in TikTok and Bilibili (200 videos in total) for their information quality and reliability by using 2 rating tools, namely, global quality score (GQS) and the DISCERN instrument. Correlation and Poisson regression analyses were applied to discuss the factors that could impact video quality.
Compared to Bilibili, TikTok is more popular, although the length of the videos on TikTok is shorter than that of the videos on Bilibili (P<.001). The quality of the short videos on liver cancer in TikTok and Bilibili was not satisfactory, with median GQS of 3 (IQR 2-4) and 2 (IQR 1-5) and median DISCERN scores of 5 (IQR 4-6) and 4 (IQR 2-7), respectively. In general, the quality of videos sourced from professional institutions and individuals was better than that of those sourced from nonprofessionals, and videos involving disease-related knowledge were of better quality than those covering news and reports. No significant differences were found in the quality of videos uploaded by individuals from different professions, with the exception of those uploaded by traditional Chinese medicine professionals, which demonstrated poorer quality. Only video shares were positively correlated with the GQS (r=0.17, P=.01), and no video variables could predict the video quality.
Our study shows that the quality of short videos on health information related to liver cancer is poor on Bilibili and TikTok, but videos uploaded by health care professionals can be considered reliable in terms of comprehensiveness and content quality. Thus, short videos providing medical information on TikTok and Bilibili must be carefully considered for scientific soundness by active information seekers before they make decisions on their health care management.

TikTok was an important channel for consumers to access and adopt health information. But the quality of health content in TikTok remains underinvestigated.
Our study aimed to identify upload sources, contents, and feature information of gallstone disease videos on TikTok and further evaluated the factors related to video quality.
We investigated the first 100 gallstone-related videos on TikTok and analyzed these videos\' upload sources, content, and characteristics. The quality of videos was evaluated using quantitative scoring tools such as DISCERN instrument, the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria, and Global Quality Scores (GQS). Moreover, the correlation between video quality and video characteristics, including duration, likes, comments, and shares, was further investigated.
According to video sources, 81% of the videos were posted by doctors. Furthermore, disease knowledge was the most dominant video content, accounting for 56% of all the videos. The mean DISCERN, JAMA, and GQS scores of all 100 videos are 39.61 (SD 11.36), 2.00 (SD 0.40), and 2.76 (SD 0.95), respectively. According to DISCERN and GQS, gallstone-related videos\' quality score on TikTok is not high, mainly at fair (43/100, 43%,) and moderate (46/100, 46%). The total DISCERN scores of doctors were significantly higher than that of individuals and news agencies, surgery techniques were significantly higher than lifestyle and news, and disease knowledge was significantly higher than news, respectively. DISCERN scores and video duration were positively correlated. Negative correlations were found between DISCERN scores and likes and shares of videos. In GQS analysis, no significant differences were found between groups based on different sources or different contents. JAMA was excluded in the video quality and correlation analysis due to a lack of discrimination and inability to evaluate the video quality accurately.
Although the videos of gallstones on TikTok are mainly provided by doctors and contain disease knowledge, they are of low quality. We found a positive correlation between video duration and video quality. High-quality videos received low attention, and popular videos were of low quality. Medical information on TikTok is currently not rigorous enough to guide patients to make accurate judgments. TikTok was not an appropriate source of knowledge to educate patients due to the low quality and reliability of the information.