Realfood and Cancer: Analysis of the Reliability and Quality of YouTube Content.

This study analyzes the quality and reliability of videos related to nutrition and cancer on YouTube. STUDY DESIGN: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, time-limited study analyzing activity on the social network YouTube was proposed. METHODS: The information from the videos was extracted through an API search tool, using the NodeXL software. The criteria to select the videos on YouTube were the keywords "real food", "realfood", and "cancer" and the hashtags #realfood and #cancer were present, videos in English and videos available on 1 December 2022. RESULTS: The DISCERN value in the total number of videos viewed was 2.25 (±0.88) points, indicating low reliability. The videos uploaded by HRU represented only 20.8%. Videos suggesting that the use of foods defined as "real food" could cure cancer without the intervention of any other treatment accounted for 12.5%. Videos that provided external links to scientific/technical evidence verifying the information represented only 13.89% of the total number of videos. Of these videos, 70% corresponded to HRU. The DISCERN value for videos from HRU users was 3.05 (0.88), a value that reflects a good reliability of videos from these users. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides information on the content and quality of the videos that we can find on YouTube. We found videos of non-health users who do not base their content on any scientific evidence, with the danger that this entails for the population, but it also highlights that the videos published by HRU have greater reliability and quality, being better perceived by the population, so it is important to encourage healthcare professionals and health institutions to share verified information on YouTube.

Analysis of Healthcare Professionals' and Institutions' Roles in Twitter Colostomy Information.

Social media represents a powerful tool for disseminating verified health information on topics such as colostomy, and the roles of healthcare professionals and institutions to ensure the veracity of the information conveyed is increasingly relevant. The main objectives of this study were to analyze the roles of these healthcare professionals and institutions in the conversation about colostomy, without being framed in a specific health communication campaign, and to know the use of reliable information in the conversation. The study was carried out by analyzing Twitter messages containing the hashtag "colostomy" and "Chron" between the 1 January and the 30 April 2022. It was conducted using the NodeXL software, focusing on content analysis of tweets and users' accounts. The results show that accounts with healthcare activity influence the impressions generated on the network (p = 0.018), finding that nurses are the most active healthcare professionals (22.24%) also having a significant effect on the overall network interactions (p = 0.022). In contrast, we found that institutions do not actively participate on the network. We emphasize the responsibility of institutions for health education and the need for professionals to improve communication skills on social networks, but also the need to improve communication skills on social media to support public health campaigns through these increasingly important channels.

Health Literacy and Critical Lecture as Key Elements to Detect and Reply to Nutrition Misinformation on Social Media: Analysis between Spanish Healthcare Professionals.

Health misinformation about nutrition and other health aspects on social media is a current public health concern. Healthcare professionals play an essential role in efforts to detect and correct it. The present study focuses on analyzing the use of competencies associated with training in methodology, health literacy, and critical lecture in order to detect sources of health misinformation that use scientific articles to support their false information. A qualitative study was conducted between 15 and 30 January 2022, wherein the participants were recruited from active users from a nutrition conversation on Twitter, diets, and cancer and defined themselves as healthcare professionals. This study demonstrates that health literacy and critical lecture competencies allow for the detection of more misinformation messages and are associated with a high rate of responses to users that spread the misinformation messages. Finally, this study proposes the necessity of developing actions to improve health literacy and critical lecture competencies between healthcare professionals. However, in order to achieve this, health authorities must develop strategies to psychologically support those healthcare professionals faced with bullying as a result of their activity on social media debunking health hoaxes.