36% of top YouTube videos on eczema are potentially harmful

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, affects approximately 20 per cent of children and two per cent of adults worldwide making it one of the most common skin conditions. YouTube, the internet’s second most visited website*, hosts thousands of videos on the topic.

This study analysed the quality of information provided in the 100 most-viewed eczema-related videos on YouTube. These have a combined total of 8,527,624 views and a duration of seven hours and 52 minutes.

The quality of the videos was assessed using the Global Quality Scale (GQS) and the DISCERN instrument* and the videos were classified into ‘useful’, ‘misleading’ and ‘potentially harmful’. The number of viewers’ ratings (‘likes’) was correlated with the scores of the GQS and DISCERN.

The authors found that 46 per cent of the YouTube videos were misleading, and 36 per cent were found to disseminate content potentially dangerous to eczema patients.

For example, patients with eczema were not only encouraged to pursue unnecessary diets such as avoidance of dairy or gluten, but also to use harmful topical treatments and home-based phototherapies without any detailed information about the duration of the application and potential risks. Furthermore, conventional medicine and physician’s advice were discredited in various ways, while promising a “fast and easy cure”.

The two assessment tools, GQS and DISCERN, revealed that around two thirds of the videos were of poor or very poor scientific quality. The viewers’ ratings did not correlate with the results of the GQS and DISCERN analysis indicating that the viewers were not able to recognise good and poor quality of the videos.

Healthcare institutions and universities accounted for just 21 per cent and eight per cent of the videos, respectively, with private individuals and promotors of complementary and alternative treatments having posted 50 per cent of the videos analysed.

Dr Simon Mueller of University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, and lead author of the study, said:

“Social media is a continually growing source of medical information for patients, particularly for young people. This information often doesn’t undergo review for scientific accuracy or quality and as our research shows, it has the potential to be heavily biased or even harmful.

“We hope that our research will make people think twice about the medical information they get from social media. The internet is a powerful and often helpful research tool, but where you source your information from is important. We do not advise against this kind of lay research, but we clearly advise against decision making based on YouTube videos only. We rather encourage to discuss the content of the videos with a doctor of trust to avoid adverse outcomes.”

Holly Barber of the British Association of Dermatologists, said:

“With so much information about eczema available online, it can be hard to know who and what to trust. This study highlights that the number of views and likes a video has does not necessarily match up with the quality and accuracy of information presented.

“It’s really important that individuals and organisations are responsible about the information they share on social media. For members of the public looking for information, be sceptical of extraordinary claims made without evidence, and make use of reputable bodies such as the National Eczema Society, the NHS, or the British Association of Dermatologists.”