Exposing the essence: evaluating quality, readability, trustworthiness, and understandability of information on depression in YouTube videos and the web

Abstract

Background: Depression is a common mental disorder worldwide. The internet offers a wide range of digital resources on depression, but its credibility is sometimes doubted due to the potential for erroneous information, which can worsen the stigma surrounding mental health and deter individuals from seeking professional services.

Aims: This paper aimed to analyze the contents of depression on Google and YouTube videos.

Methods: The readability, trustworthiness, understandability, and overall quality of the information were investigated using readability indexes, PEMAT-AV, NLM criteria for trustworthiness, and a self-structured questionnaire.

Results: A total of 85 websites and 80 YouTube videos on depression were evaluated. The National Work Group on Literacy and Health recommends that patient-oriented literature should be written at or below a sixth-grade level. However, 88% of the websites are written above a 9th-grade and are difficult to read. The majority of YouTube videos were from private agencies, in contrast to government agencies. Most content describes clinical symptoms, with 50% validating ICD/DSM criteria. However, less than 50% detailed onset, prognosis, or course of illness. Websites describe treatment modalities more frequently and have educational utility.

Conclusions: There is a need for regulations on the dissemination of health-related information on the internet.

Keywords: Google; PEMAT-AV; YouTube; depression; quality of information; readability.