Digital Source Youtube; Evaluation of Covıd-19 Vaccine Rejection Videos

Abstract

Objective: Vaccine rejection is an important issue affecting human health. As social media platforms are the easiest and most accessible means of accessing information on health, their use has increased significantly. YouTube, is a frequently used video source on health at the global level. We aimed to evaluate the quality of the most watched YouTube videos for COVID-19 vaccine rejection. Methods: The key terms 'COVID vaccine rejection', 'COVID vaccine side effect', 'COVID vaccine refuse' was used for the videos. The reliability of the videos was assessed using the modified DISCERN scale. The Global Quality Scale (GQS) was used to evaluate the videos in terms of vaccine information. According to the results of the scale, the videos were divided into three groups as good/excellent quality, moderate quality and poor quality. Results: The videos were 30.4% (n=21) of good/excellent quality, 34.8% (n=24) of moderate quality, and 34.8% (n=24) of poor quality. Good/excellent videos had a significantly higher median DISCERN score (p<0.01). There was no significant difference between daily median views (p=0.779), daily comments (p=0.148) and likes rates (p=0.551) according to video quality. Conclusion: E-source; Youtube contains a significant amount of data on health-related services. However, some of this information is inaccurate or of insufficient quality. Physicians should warn their patients when using digital resources, direct them to the right resources, and demonstrate the importance of digital resource evaluation.