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Understandability and Actionability of Education Materials About Syphilis on YouTube

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A Correction to this article was published on 04 August 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

Introduction

People use social media and online sites as tools to get information about syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Methods

We searched the term “syphilis” on YouTube on October 28, 2021, limiting results to the top 200 videos. Videos were scored using Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) by two evaluators. The inter-rater reliability (kappa) and intraclass correlation coefficient of PEMAT scores were calculated. Videos with scores > 70% are understandable or actionable. We performed bivariate analysis and multivariable regression models to assess the relationship between video characteristics and both understandable and actionable contents.

Results

Of the 200 videos, 103 (51.5%) were included, 81 (78.6%) were understandable (mean score 54.1%, standard deviation (SD) 21.1), and 18 (33.3%) were actionable (mean score 60.9%, SD 32.9). In the bivariate analysis, there was a significant difference in the number of qualitative videos according to the source types, video types, audience types, and graphic types. In the multivariable analysis, the number of qualitative videos was significantly higher for “Live action/Explanation with Illustration or Photograph” graphic types, “Expert Testimonial or Education for Public” video types, and “Hospital/Physician/Non-profit” source types (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

A substantial number of understandable videos were detected, but actionable videos were insufficient. However, patients should gravitate towards some video types, source types, and videos with some graphic types.

Policy Implications

Uploaders should pay more attention to producing more actionable patient education materials. The use of an algorithm to access understandable videos should be suggested to viewers.

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Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of Data and Material

Available (https://figshare.com/s/2cedc3faf600dfc31c5c or https://doi.org/10.4121/19368053).

Change history

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Health Turkey, Provincial Health Directorate of Adana, Mustafa Kemal Paşa Street, 01230, Yüreğir/Adana, Turkey

    Musa Şahin

  2. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey

    Erhan Kaya

Authors
  1. Musa Şahin
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  2. Erhan Kaya
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Musa Şahin. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Erhan Kaya and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Musa Şahin.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

The first sentence in the subheading of the method in the abstract: "We searched the term “syphilis” on YouTube on October 28, 2022". Correct: instead of 2022 (October 28, 2022), it should be 2021 (October 28, 2021).

The first sentence in the "Search Strategy and Data Collection" subheading of the title of the method in the text: "The search term “syphilis” on YouTube™ ([http://www.youtube.com)]http://www.youtube.com) was searched on October 28, 2022." Correct: instead of 2022 (October 28, 2022), it should be 2021 (October 28, 2021).

The first sentence in the "Scoring Systems" subheading of the Methods in the text: "The daily views, comments, and likes of the videos were calculated based on the total number of days the video remained on YouTube from upload to October 28, 2022." Correct: instead of 2022 (October 28, 2022), it should be 2021 (October 28, 2021).

Second sentence in the "Scoring Systems" subheading of Methods in the text: "Number of days was based on the date from upload to October 28, 2022." Correct: instead of 2022 (October 28, 2022), it should be 2021 (October 28, 2021).

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Şahin, M., Kaya, E. Understandability and Actionability of Education Materials About Syphilis on YouTube. Sex Res Soc Policy 19, 1989–1995 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00752-5

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