Social Media & Hepatitis C

Physicians and patients are now able to employ an increasingly broad array of effective medical therapies for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, misunderstanding of the efficacy and safety of current anti-HCV therapies persists, despite extensive media coverage. Physicians need to explore new means of educating their patients regarding the availability of new therapies and the benefits of treatment. Methods. The YouTube search engine was accessed on November 2, 2016, using the search term "Hepatitis C treatment". This generated a total of 196 videos. Videos were classified into 8 categories: educational videos for patients, patient testimonials, educational videos for health care providers, public awareness videos, advertisements, physician experience, alternative treatments and unrelated videos. These videos were assessed for the total number of views, total likes, and total dislikes. Mean of all the views, likes and dislikes was generated for each category. Videos in languages other than English, non medical videos and videos beyond the first ten pages of YouTube were excluded from the study. Results. Of the 196 videos reviewed, 131 videos were patient testimonials, 30 were health care education, 20 were public awareness, 7 were patient education, 5 were alternative treatments, 1 was a university advertisement and 1 was a physician experience. The majority of the HCV videos were personal patient experiences. These videos generated 314,071 views. However, the greatest number of likes (n= 3,715) was associated with public awareness videos. Discussion. The large number of views generated by HCV patient testimonials suggests that the general population is inquisitive about HCV therapy. The side effects and intolerability of the past treatments for hepatitis C loom over the minds of the people and prevents many from seeking treatment. Education of the general public in a format they are familiar with and use frequently regarding new medications with fewer side effects and improved cure rate may motivate patients to consult with their physicians. The benefit of YouTube as an outside confirmatory resource, one that most of the community at large has easy access to could be easily utilized. Videos posted on YouTube offer physicians an avenue to connect with their patients, provide education and motivate HCV-infected individuals to seek out treatment. YouTube has internal controls to ensure appropriate information is being posted and physicians can have an active role in providing and reviewing the content.