Are the Testicular Self-examination Videos on YouTube Misleading?

Objective: For early diagnosis, testicular self-examination (TSE) is crucial. Videos of TSE have increased on social media platforms. In this study, we assessed the reliability of TSE videos on YouTube. Materials and Methods: The keywords including "testicular self-examination", and "testis mass" were used for searching on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com). A total of 1311 videos were investigated, and a total of 207 videos were included in the study. Shorter videos (below 1.30 minutes) and irrelevant videos were not included in the study. Results: The median number of views was 1846 (interquartile range: 406-30310). Most of the videos were uploaded by profit organizations (57.5%). The DISCERN score and Global Quality Score (GQS) were significantly higher in the health professional group (p=0.003, and p<0.001, respectively). In addition, the degree of information was generally low in both groups. However, misinformation was statistically lower in the health professional group. Conclusion: YouTube is a popular platform for promoting videos about TSE. In particular, not checking health-related videos while uploading causes poor quality videos to be uploaded. Videos of TSE have a low degree of misinformation. However, the DISCERN and GQS were also low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]