PWE-103 Youtube for stoma surgery information for patients: are we there yet?

Introduction Patients are increasingly seeking health related guidance on social media. Providing reliable information on YouTube may improve anxiety and positively influence decision making for patients considering elective stoma formation. Our aim was to assess the quality and characteristics of YouTube videos related to elective stoma formation. Methods YouTube was searched for stoma surgery and phrases relating to stomas. The 100 most viewed videos were identified and user interaction analyzed. Two authors independently used a novel 5 point critical appraisal tool, notably: adequate content; effective use of images; evidence based information; avoidance of medical jargon and support references, to assess the quality of patient information videos. Results 52 videos were uploaded by patients, 9 by hospitals, 32 by HCPs and 7 by charity channels. 57 videos (57%) discussed life after surgery. 57% videos discussed life after surgery; 50 of these were uploaded by patients who had previously undergone stoma surgery, and of these 38% focused on changing a stoma bag. 81.2% of Health Care Practitioner (HCP) videos were educational films of live surgery. Other themes identified were: life with disease (29%) and stoma surgery complications (2%). Patient uploaded videos had significantly more comments (P = 0.001). No video obtained a perfect score on the critical appraisal tool. Conclusions Understanding the sequelae of surgery and long term quality of life are important for preoperative patients (2). Given this, there is a clear lack of comprehensive and accurate stoma related videos easily identifiable by patients to address these topics on YouTube. The majority of videos were largely targeted at medical professionals; those that were patient directed lacked accuracy and were of limited use. Videos are a powerful medium of improving patient understanding and help in patient counselling. HCPs should consider the production of professional videos to use as an adjunct to clinical consultations to address common pre-operative concerns. References Zhao, Y & Zhang, J. ( 2017) Consumer health information seeking in social media: a literature review. Health Info Libr J. 34(4), 26–83. Available from: doi:10.1111/hir.12192. Keulers, B. J., Scheltinga, M. R., Houterman, S., Van Der Wilt, G. J., & Spauwen, P. H. ( 2008). Surgeons underestimate their patients’ desire for preoperative information. World journal of surgery, 32(6), 96–70. Available from: doi:10.1007/s0026–0–58–.