Is Arabic Information on YouTube About Erectile Dysfunction Based on Scientific Evidence?

Abstract

Background: Online medical education is critical for public health literacy and physician efficacy, but it must be trustworthy. Although it has the potential to be a useful resource for medical education, users must be able to identify reliable content. Objective: To assess the scientific quality of Arabic-language video content related to erectile dysfunction that is available on YouTube to learn what information our patients can handle online. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search of the YouTube database was carried out to identify videos related to erectile dysfunction published in Arabic. The search was conducted using the following keywords: “Erectile dysfunction”, “Sexual dysfunction” and “Impotence”. Without a time, limit, the search was carried out until January 1, 2023. The quality assessment of the videos was done using the Kappa score. Results: The videos in our sample had up to one million views (average 2,627,485.6), and the kappa index was 0.86 (p <0.001). Of these videos, 16% were considered scientific evidence-based (SEB), and 84% were considered not scientific evidence-based (NSEB) (p <0.001). The NSEB group addressed details concerning natural remedies, the Psychosocial sphere, and lifestyle, whereas the SEB group tended to be more concerned with physiopathology, etiology, endothelial dysfunction, diagnosis, psychosocial treatment, oral treatment, injections, or prosthesis. Conclusion: On social media, misleading or incorrect information about erectile dysfunction is widely disseminated. This research may support urological and technical oversight and emphasizes guiding patients to the best men’s health options.