One-Third of YouTube Hay Fever Videos Are Misleading

THURSDAY, Aug. 18, 2022 — Less than half of YouTube videos on allergic rhinitis provide useful information, according to a study published online July 13 in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Celine Lund-Nielsen Remvig, from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and colleagues examined the popularity and usefulness of YouTube videos on allergic rhinitis. Eighty-six videos were included in the analysis.

The researchers found that 43 percent of the videos were classified as useful, 36 percent as misleading, and 21 percent as neither useful nor misleading. Only 17.5 percent of the videos were uploaded by a specialist, medical doctor, or health care provider, while 39.5 percent were uploaded from a TV show or YouTube channel. User interaction was greater for videos uploaded by TV shows and YouTube channels, which accounted for 66.9 percent of the total likes, 66.8 percent of the total dislikes, and 54.0 percent of the total comments. While this source alone accounted for 23.4 percent of the total views, it accounted for 48 percent of the total misleading videos.

“According to research, 70 percent of patients with a chronic disease are influenced by information they get from online sources, and one-quarter of internet users have watched an online video about a health or medical problem,” Remvig said in a statement. “In reviewing YouTube videos on the topic of allergic rhinitis, we found that less than half of the videos provided useful information.”

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.

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Posted August 2022