Examining understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation in popular YouTube videos on sleep compared to expert-led videos

Rebecca Robbins; Lawrence J. Epstein; Jay M. Iyer; Matthew D. Weaver; Sogol Javaheri; Olabimpe Fashanu; Stacy Loeb; Kristen Monten; Colin Le; Suzanne M. Bertisch; Jan Van Den Bulck; Stuart F. Quan

doi:10.5664/jcsm.10520

Examining understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation in popular YouTube videos on sleep compared to expert-led videos

Rebecca Robbins, Lawrence J. Epstein, Jay M. Iyer, Matthew D. Weaver, Sogol Javaheri, Olabimpe Fashanu, Stacy Loeb, Kristen Monten, Colin Le, Suzanne M. Bertisch, Jan Van Den Bulck, Stuart F. Quan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Internet is a common source of sleep information but may be subject to commercial bias and misinformation. We compared the understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation of popular YouTube videos on sleep to videos with credible experts. We identified the most popular YouTube videos on sleep/insomnia and 5 videos from experts. Videos were assessed for understanding and clarity using validated instruments. Misinformation and commercial bias were identified by consensus of sleep medicine experts. The most popular videos received, on average, 8.2 (± 2.2) million views; the expert-led videos received, on average, 0.3 (± 0.2) million views. Commercial bias was identified in 66.7% of popular videos and 0% of expert videos (P < .012). The popular videos featured more misinformation than expert videos (P < .001). The popular videos about sleep/insomnia on YouTube featured misinformation and commercial bias. Future research may explore methods for disseminating evidence-based sleep information.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	991-994
Number of pages	4
Journal	Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
Volume	19
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.10520
State	Published - 1 Sep 2023
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

YouTube
insomnia
misinformation
sleep

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10.5664/jcsm.10520

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Robbins, R., Epstein, L. J., Iyer, J. M., Weaver, M. D., Javaheri, S., Fashanu, O., Loeb, S., Monten, K., Le, C., Bertisch, S. M., Van Den Bulck, J., & Quan, S. F. (2023). Examining understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation in popular YouTube videos on sleep compared to expert-led videos. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 19(5), 991-994. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.10520

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title = "Examining understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation in popular YouTube videos on sleep compared to expert-led videos",

abstract = "The Internet is a common source of sleep information but may be subject to commercial bias and misinformation. We compared the understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation of popular YouTube videos on sleep to videos with credible experts. We identified the most popular YouTube videos on sleep/insomnia and 5 videos from experts. Videos were assessed for understanding and clarity using validated instruments. Misinformation and commercial bias were identified by consensus of sleep medicine experts. The most popular videos received, on average, 8.2 (± 2.2) million views; the expert-led videos received, on average, 0.3 (± 0.2) million views. Commercial bias was identified in 66.7% of popular videos and 0% of expert videos (P < .012). The popular videos featured more misinformation than expert videos (P < .001). The popular videos about sleep/insomnia on YouTube featured misinformation and commercial bias. Future research may explore methods for disseminating evidence-based sleep information.",

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author = "Rebecca Robbins and Epstein, {Lawrence J.} and Iyer, {Jay M.} and Weaver, {Matthew D.} and Sogol Javaheri and Olabimpe Fashanu and Stacy Loeb and Kristen Monten and Colin Le and Bertisch, {Suzanne M.} and {Van Den Bulck}, Jan and Quan, {Stuart F.}",

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Robbins, R, Epstein, LJ, Iyer, JM, Weaver, MD, Javaheri, S, Fashanu, O, Loeb, S, Monten, K, Le, C, Bertisch, SM, Van Den Bulck, J & Quan, SF 2023, 'Examining understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation in popular YouTube videos on sleep compared to expert-led videos', Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 991-994. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.10520

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AU - Javaheri, Sogol

AU - Fashanu, Olabimpe

AU - Loeb, Stacy

AU - Monten, Kristen

AU - Le, Colin

AU - Bertisch, Suzanne M.

AU - Van Den Bulck, Jan

AU - Quan, Stuart F.

PY - 2023/9/1

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AB - The Internet is a common source of sleep information but may be subject to commercial bias and misinformation. We compared the understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation of popular YouTube videos on sleep to videos with credible experts. We identified the most popular YouTube videos on sleep/insomnia and 5 videos from experts. Videos were assessed for understanding and clarity using validated instruments. Misinformation and commercial bias were identified by consensus of sleep medicine experts. The most popular videos received, on average, 8.2 (± 2.2) million views; the expert-led videos received, on average, 0.3 (± 0.2) million views. Commercial bias was identified in 66.7% of popular videos and 0% of expert videos (P < .012). The popular videos featured more misinformation than expert videos (P < .001). The popular videos about sleep/insomnia on YouTube featured misinformation and commercial bias. Future research may explore methods for disseminating evidence-based sleep information.

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Examining understandability, information quality, and presence of misinformation in popular YouTube videos on sleep compared to expert-led videos

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Keywords

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