Dissemination of health content through social networks: YouTube and opioid use disorders

Most Americans now access social media platforms, including YouTube, to obtain health information. However, few studies have evaluated the quality of YouTube content related to opioid use disorder (OUD), including medications for OUD (MOUD; buprenorphine) and harm reduction resources (e.g., naloxone). The purpose of this cross-sectional analysis was to assess the quality, accuracy, and reliability of MOUD and harm reduction-related video content available on YouTube.

The study team conducted a YouTube search between June 2022 and July 2022 using key words related to MOUD and harm reduction content (e.g., "suboxone," "methadone," "Narcan"). The 5 most viewed videos from each search term were analyzed for quality (i.e., Global Quality Scale; GQS), accuracy (i.e., JAMA Benchmark Criteria), and reliability (i.e., DISCERN). Videos that were non-English, duplicate, or that did not directly mention OUD, MOUD, or harm reduction were excluded from the review (N = 6).

YouTube videos (N = 70) were mostly produced by medical professionals (27.1 %), independent nonmedical users (21.4 %; e.g., vloggers, individuals documenting their experiences), medical organizations (17.1 %; e.g., hospitals, treatment programs), and/or media (14.3 %; e.g., news agencies). The target audience was primarily the general public (65.7 %), people who use opioids (20.0 %), and healthcare providers (10.0 %). Videos containing MOUD content (N = 64, 61.4 %) mostly focused on suboxone (25.0 %), methadone (23.4 %), Sublocade (14.1 %), and subutex/buprenorphine (14.1 %). The median quality score was 2 based on the GQS with 3 videos receiving the highest quality rating (5). Two videos were highly rated for accuracy per all three JAMA Benchmark criteria. Videos produced by nonmedical educational channels had the highest overall reliability scores on the DISCERN criteria (median 4), followed by medical professionals (median 3), and medical organizations (median 2.5).

The overall quality, accuracy, and reliability of MOUD and harm reduction related content posted on YouTube is poor. The lack of evidence-based content posted on YouTube reinforces the need for public health expert involvement in disseminating guideline-based content on social media.