Turkderm-Turk Arch Dermatol Venereol. 2023; 57(3): 83-86 | DOI: 10.4274/turkderm.galenos.2023.87253

YouTube as a source of information on Merkel cell carcinoma

Abdullah Evren Yetiþir
Adana City Training and Research Hospital, Clinic of Medical Oncology, Adana, Türkiye

Background and Design: To evaluate the content and reliability of Merkel cell carcinoma videos on YouTube, the most frequently used videosharing platform to access information.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, videos about Merkel cell carcinoma were searched on www.youtube.com using the term “Merkel cell carcinoma”, and 100 videos were analyzed using the Global Quality scale (GQS) and modified DISCERN tool.
Results: The majority of the videos were related to treatment (72%), diagnosis (36%), and pathogenesis (19%). 81% of the videos were rated as useful and 19% as misleading. The GQS and DISCERN scores of the useful videos were statistically significantly higher than those of the misleading videos.
Conclusion: The importance of YouTube, which contains both useful and misleading videos about health for public health, is increasing. Since Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare cancer, we found that the majority of the videos on this subject were uploaded by experts, and their rate of usefulness was high. In the selection of videos on health-related topics, the videos posted by experts (such as medical journals, doctors, and universities) should be prioritized, and YouTube should not be the only source of information since it has no supervisory mechanism.

Keywords: Merkel cell carcinoma, YouTube, Global Quality scale, modified DISCERN tool

---

Merkel hücreli karsinomda bilgi kaynaðý olarak YouTube

Abdullah Evren Yetiþir
Adana Þehir Eðitim ve Araþtýrma Hastanesi, Medikal Onkoloji, Adana, Türkiye

Amaç: En sýk kullandýðýmýz video paylaþým platformu olan YouTube’daki Merkel hücreli karsinom videolarýnýn içerik ve güvenilirliðini deðerlendirmektir.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Tanýmlayýcý tipteki çalýþmamýzda Merkel hücreli karsinomla ilgili videolarý www.youtube.com platformunda “Merkel hücreli karsinom” terimini kullanarak taradýk ve The Global Quality scale (GQS) ve The modified DISCERN tool (DS) kullanarak 100 videoyu inceledik.
Bulgular: Video içerikleri tedavi (%72), taný (%36) ve patogenez (%19) ile ilgiliydi. Videolarýn %81’i yararlý ve %19’u yanýltýcý olarak deðerlendirildi. Yararlý videolarýn GQS ve modifiye DISCERN skorlarý yanýltýcý videolardan istatistiksel açýdan anlamlý olarak yüksekti.
Sonuç: YouTube eriþim, kullaným ve video yükleme açýsýndan herkese açýk bir platformdur. Halk saðlýðýnda giderek önemi artmaktadýr. Saðlýkla ilgili yararlý ve yanýltýcý videolar bulunmaktadýr. Merkel hücreli karsinom nadir görülen kanser olmasý sebebiyle konunun uzmaný kiþiler tarafýndan yayýnlanan videolar çoðunlukta ve yararlýlýk yüzdesi yüksek saptanmýþtýr. Saðlýkla ilgili bilgi edinmek istendiðinde konunun uzmaný kiþilerin yayýnladýðý videolar seçilmeli ve denetleyici mekanizmasý olmadýðý için tek bilgi kaynaðý olarak görülmemelidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Merkel hücreli karsinom, YouTube, Global Quality Skala, modifiye DISCERN tool

---

CITE