Urinary tract infections (UTIs), are a leading cause of health related morbidity in the community. As a result, many patients will often seek unverified sources of information for methods to prevent urinary tract infections. This study aims to assess the quality of health education for the prevention of urinary tract infections on the global online video sharing platform, YouTube.

Three medical practitioners independently reviewed and evaluated the first 50 videos listed in February 2023, when using the search terms “How to prevent UTIs” on YouTube, the online video sharing platform.
Information regarding the number of video views, creator, as well as video content quality, understandability and actionability were recorded. Each video was assessed according to the DISCERN criteria and Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) (1,2). The DISCERN criteria are a commonly used method of assessing the reliability and quality of information provided by audio-visual content related to consumer health information, whilst the PEMAT is a tool developed to assess both the understandability and actionability of audio-visual content. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics V28. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Forty-Seven videos were analysed (3 non-English videos excluded). Only 16/47 (34%) of the videos were produced by a recognised medical institution. 43/47 (91%) of videos were addressed at patients, whilst 4/47(9%) were targeted at clinicians. The median number of views per video was 24,110 (range: 88–5552204).
The overall quality of evidence-based material regarding UTI prevention was poor to moderate, manifested by a mean (range) DISCERN criteria score of 3.1 (1–5). Despite the average PEMAT understandability score being 63% (range: 22–100%), there was limited actionability of content reflected by a mean PEMAT score of 68% (range: 0–100%). Content produced by recognised medical institutions was not associated with higher PEMAT (understandability/actionability: p=0.36/p=0.20), scores but was found to have higher DISCERN criteria (p=0.03) scores. The number of video views was not associated with higher PEMAT (understandability/actionability: p=0.55/p=0.57) or DISCERN criteria (p=0.34) scores.

YouTube is one of the most accessible mediums for health education.

Video information from medical institutions were more factual than that of non-medical institutions and media influencers. However, there was no difference in the quality of deliverance between medical and non-medical institutions that may not always convey evidence-based information. Medical practitioners must be aware that patients may present with inaccurate preconceptions regarding prevention methods for their urinary tract infections and should be prepared to address these during counselling with patients.

Charnock D, et al., DISCERN: an instrument for judging the quality of written consumer health information on treatment choices., 1999, J Epidemiol Community Health, 53(2),105-11.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, PEMAT Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V), 2013, Webpage, Available from: https://www.ahrq.gov/health-literacy/patient-education/pemat-av.html.

Continence 7S1 (2023) 100889
DOI: 10.1016/j.cont.2023.100889