Comment on “YouTube and UTIs: What Is Online Video Content Teaching Our Patients?”

The most common outpatient infection in women is a urinary tract infection (UTI), and treatment generally requires a prescription for antimicrobial agents. An estimated 60% of women experience a UTI within their lifetime, and of these, 27% experience a recurrence within 6 months. The internet has become an important source of health information, particularly for young people. YouTube, a video-sharing platform, is the second-most-visited website globally and also has the largest repository of free video content. This study was designed to assess the quality of content on YouTube about UTI prevention, with primary outcomes of DISCERN and Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) scores. YouTube videos were reviewed by 2 urology registrars and a urology resident who were blinded to the study outcomes; the first 50 videos returned by the search “how to prevent UTIs” were examined. Secondary outcomes for this study were the number of views, subscribers, and likes. Both the DISCERN and PEMAT tools are validated questionnaires that are designed for the evaluation of audiovisual content in the context of treatment decisions. Final assessment included 47 videos in the English language, with 3 videos excluded due to not being in English. Notable results included 16 videos being from medical sources such as a medical institute or university or were delivered by a registered nurse or physician, 43 videos being targeted at patients rather than clinicians, 10 videos allowing viewer comments, a median number of subscribers of 129,000 and 26 videos having more than 100,000 subscribers, a median number of views of 24,110 and a median number of likes of 123. Nonmedical sources were ranked significantly higher than medical sources in the search results ( P <0.05), but the number of subscribers and views between medical and nonmedical sources was not significantly different. The number of likes was also significantly higher for nonmedical sources than for medical sources ( P <0.05). In terms of quality, the mean DISCERN score was significantly higher for medical sources than nonmedical sources ( P =0.03), meaning that the medical sources produced better quality and more accurate health information. PEMAT scores assessing understandability were not significantly different between medical and nonmedical sources, nor were there differences in PEMAT scores for actionability. These results indicate that video content produced by nonmedical sources tended to be higher ranked than medical sources on YouTube; this is consistent with concerns reported by researchers that individuals searching for health information on YouTube are more likely to be presented with less reliable information than is desirable. In addition, nonmedical sources are farther reaching and viewed more. DISCERN scores reflected the lower-quality nature of this content, consistent with previous research showing lower reliability for nonmedical sources about other urological symptoms or conditions. Though PEMAT scores were not significantly different between medical and nonmedical sources overall, it was evident that PEMAT scores were significantly more variable in the medical sources, meaning that there is a wide range of understandability and actionability in these sources that can make them feel less accessible to patients. Future research should make additional efforts to (1) minimize bias in search results, (2) consider the content of comments and advertisements related to the main video content, and (3) investigate solutions for making reliable information feature more prominently for patients during internet searches. (Summarized from Worrall B, Nassour A-J, Zhuo K, et al. YouTube and UTIs: What is online video content teaching our patients? Urogynecology (Phila). 2026;32:34-39. doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000001672)