title: Popular on YouTube: a critical appraisal of the educational quality of information regarding asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asthma affects >300 million people globally, including 25 million in the United States. Patients with asthma frequently use the Internet as a source of information. YouTube is one of the three most popular Web sites.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the educational quality of YouTube videos for asthma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a YouTube search by using the keyword "asthma." The 200 most frequently viewed relevant videos were included in the study. Asthma videos were analyzed for characteristics, source, and content. Source was further classified as asthma health care provider, other health care provider, patient, pharmaceutical company, and professional society and/or media. A scoring system was created to evaluate quality (-10 to 30 points). Negative points were assigned for misleading information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred videos were analyzed, with a median of 18,073.5 views, 31.5 likes, and 2 dislikes, which spanned a median of 172 seconds. More video presenters were male (60.5%). The most common type of video source was other health care providers (34.5%). The most common video content was alternative treatments (38.0%), including live-fish ingestion; reflexology; acupressure and/or acupuncture; Ayurveda; yoga; raw food, vegan, gluten-free diets; marijuana; Buteyko breathing; and salt therapy. Scores for videos supplied by asthma health care providers were statistically significantly different from other sources (p < 0.001) and had the highest average score (9.91).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  YouTube videos of asthma were frequently viewed but were a poor source of accurate health care information. Videos by asthma health care providers were rated highest in quality. The allergy/immunology community has a clear opportunity to enhance the value of educational material on YouTube.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Estrada
authors.forename: Lyda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cuervo-Pardo
authors.forename: Bitan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Foussena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pazheri
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zell
authors.forename: Xiao-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lang
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D014481:United States