Evaluating the quality of Spanish-language information for patients with type 2 diabetes on YouTube and Facebook.

Abstract

Introduction: Spanish speakers rely on social media for health information, with varying quality of its content. This study evaluates the reliability, completeness, and quality of type 2 diabetes (T2D) information available in Spanish-language videos on YouTube and Facebook. Methods: Analytical observational study that included Spanish-language videos on TD2 available on Facebook and YouTube. General characteristics, interaction and generating sources are described. Standardized tools were used to assess reliability, completeness and overall quality. Results: We included 172 videos, 90 from Youtube® and 82 from Facebook®. The median number of views was 1725 (IQR 213-10,000), with an average duration of 5.93 minutes (IQR 3.2-16.8) and an internet time of 834 days (IQR 407-1477). Most videos were uploaded by independent users (58.72%). Reliability (evaluated with DISCERN tool) had a median of 3 (IQR 2-3), completeness (content score) had a median of 2 (IQR 1-3), and overall quality, evaluated with the Global Quality Score (GQS) tool had a median of 3 (IQR 3-4). Using a global classification of "subjective reliability" 92.4% of the videos were considered reliable. Better completeness was observed in Facebook videos (p < .001). Reliability was better for videos from government or news organizations. Conclusion: Our results suggest that videos about T2D in Spanish on social media such as YouTube and Facebook have good reliability and quality, with greater exhaustiveness in content in Facebook videos and greater reliability for videos from government or news organizations.