Content and quality of online videos about ostomy pouch changes: a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: Many health-related videos are available online. One type of health-related video is related to stoma pouch change. However, a system to evaluate the quality and content of these videos is lacking. PURPOSE: To evaluate the content and quality of YouTube videos on colostomy pouch change. METHODS: A descriptive study was carried out by searching for videos on March 15, 2021, using the key words "colostomy care," "colostomy bag/pouch change," and "ostomy bag/pouch change." A 5-point Global Quality Scale was used to evaluate the quality of the videos, and a 10-point scale was used to evaluate the content. The videos were classified as "useful" or "useless" according to their content and quality scores. RESULTS: A total of 128 videos were found; 94 videos met the criteria and were included in the study. The content of the 94 videos was examined by 2 independent researchers. The overall content score of the videos was 8.24 ± 1.56, and the overall quality score was 3.14 ± 0.97. A total of 66 (70.21%) videos were useful, and 28 (29.79%) videos were useless. The mean scores of useful videos for content (9.09 ± 0.83) and the average Global Quality Scale scores (3.53 ± 0.76) were significantly higher than those of useless videos (6.17 ± 0.90 and 2.25 ± 0.75, respectively; (P < .05). The results showed that 57.6% of the useful videos were uploaded by universities, professional organizations, and health care professionals, and 67.9% of the useless videos were uploaded by patients; the difference was statistically significant (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that the majority of online videos evaluated were accurate. Most of these videos were uploaded by universities, professional organizations, health care professionals, or medical advertisers. Although there were many limitations to this study, the authors suggest that health care professionals can direct their patients to these sources after hospital discharge. However, future studies are needed.