Hansen, Jakob Møller

Introduction YouTube is the most widely used video hosting website in the world; however, the quality and reliability of information is unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate the content and distribution of the most popular videos on YouTube about migraine. Methods We searched for migraine-related videos on the online video hosting resource YouTube ( http://youtube.com/ ). Two authors screened the titles and video descriptions independently for all videos with a view count of ≥ 10,000 views. For each video we recorded descriptive data, the source/author and the primary purpose/content. Results We identified 351 eligible videos. In total, there was more than 3 days of content viewed more than 163 million times. Only 9% of these videos were authored by healthcare professionals. The majority (44%) of videos focused on complementary and alternative medicine. Discussion YouTube provides a wide array of easily accessible information on migraine, ranging from authoritative sources to potentially questionable content. If used uncritically, this may result in inadequate clinical management. Peer-reviewed information on migraine mechanisms and treatment is needed to provide the best available evidence for the public and patients. Ideally, a professional society or foundation such as the International Headache Society would develop, curate, and distribute content.

Introduction Health information is one of the most frequently searched topics on the internet. In this observational cross-sectional study, we evaluated the content of the highest indexed Google search results related to migraine management. Methods We identified the five most used search terms related to migraine management via Google Trends in the time period 1 January 2004 to 2 October 2019. We entered each search term into Google’s search engine and retrieved the search results from the first three pages from each search query. We stratified the recommended treatment options and evaluated the websites using the DISCERN tool. Results In total, 73 unique websites recommended a total of 77 different migraine treatment options, consisting of 35 (45%) acute and 42 (55%) preventive treatments. For acute treatments, pharmacological options were more frequently recommended (88% of websites), whereas non-pharmacological options were more frequent among preventive treatments (67%). Evaluation of the consumer health information using the DISCERN tool showed that non-governmental organizations had the highest mean total score with 3.8 (±0.19). Conclusions Googling when looking for migraine treatments reveals a multitude of management proposals of varying quality. Non-governmental organizations provide the overall highest quality of written consumer health information on migraine treatments among search results. We encourage stakeholders to optimize and distribute high-quality and peer-reviewed information on migraine management.