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