Reliability and quality assessment of colorectal cancer content in video sites

Abstract Objective:To assess the content, reliability and quality of video information about colorectal cancer in video websites. Methods: We searched for "colorectal cancer" on Youku, Tencent, Iqiyi, Bilibili, Watermelon, Douyin and Kwai, and studied the top 50 videos sorted by "relevance" in the search function, totaling 350 videos. Video characteristics and upload sources were recorded. Two independent gastroenterologists assessed the reliability and quality of the video information using the Global Quality Scale (GQS) and the DISCERN assessment tool. Results: A total of 350 videos were analyzed. Note that a total of 350 videos were analyzed. The most common sources of uploads were public hospitals/medical colleges/doctors (45.8%), followed by independent health information websites (26.0%), medical advertisements/for-profit organizations (7.7%), individual users/patients (9.7%) and talk shows/TV programs (10.8%). Symptoms and diagnostic options (35.4%) were the most common video content, followed by general information (24.0%) and treatment (23.1%), lifestyle/diet habits (7.2%) and complications (10.3%) were the least common.Mean DISCERN and GQS ratings were 2.77 and 3.11, respectively. Videos uploaded by Public hospitals/medical schools/doctors were more reliable and of higher quality, with mean DISCERN and GQS ratings of 3.12 and 3.26, respectively. The average value of DISCERN score and GQS score is greater than 3 in the videos uploaded by Iqiyi, Bilibili and Watermelon. Conclusion:Video websites are one of the main sources of colorectal cancer information on the Internet, but most of the content is of low to medium reliability and low to medium quality, with some risk of misinformation. Therefore it is especially important to upload high quality and optimal length video content. Meanwhile, organizations and personnel with medical professional background upload videos of higher quality, and they should be encouraged to actively participate in colorectal cancer video science.