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Characteristics of YouTube™ Videos Related to Mammography

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Abstract

With a monthly total of more than one billion unique visitors, YouTube™ is one of the Internet’s most visited websites and contributes to the growing amount of health-related information on the Internet. The purpose of this study was to analyze coverage of mammography screening in popular YouTube™ videos. A total of 173 videos were included in the analysis. Compared with professionally created videos, consumer-created videos had a significantly greater number of comments (>9 comments 38.0 % for consumer vs. 11.8 % for professional videos, p = < 0.001). Videos created by professionals more often portrayed general mammography information (97.1 vs. 88.7 %) compared to those created by consumers. The vast majority of videos presented general information (93.6 %) related to mammography, and almost two thirds addressed preparing for the test. Less than 20 % dealt with other types of examinations. Approximately 30 % discussed pain associated with the examination (35.3 %) and addressed issues of anxiety (32.4 %) and fear (29.5 %). Nearly half of the videos presented information about the test results (46.2 %). Over 25 % covered medical or family history. The majority did not pertain to a specific age group. Future research should focus on analyzing the accuracy of the information in the videos.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, William Paterson University, Wing 143, Wayne, NJ, 07470, USA

    Corey H. Basch, Zerlina L. MacDonald & Rachel Reeves

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Grace Clarke Hillyer

  3. Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Charles E. Basch

Authors
  1. Corey H. Basch
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  2. Grace Clarke Hillyer
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  3. Zerlina L. MacDonald
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  4. Rachel Reeves
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  5. Charles E. Basch
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Correspondence to Corey H. Basch.

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Basch, C.H., Hillyer, G.C., MacDonald, Z.L. et al. Characteristics of YouTube™ Videos Related to Mammography. J Canc Educ 30, 699–703 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-014-0769-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-014-0769-9

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