The Utilization of YouTube as a Resource on Hair Loss Treatments

    June 2020 in “ Aesthetic Plastic Surgery ”
    Sara Behbahani, Brittany Ward, Margaret Montovano, Britney N. Wilson, Vaishali Ravikumar, Katrice M. Karanfilian, Boris Paskhover
    TLDR YouTube videos on hair loss treatments often provide low-quality and biased information.
    The study evaluated the quality of YouTube videos discussing hair loss treatments using the DISCERN criterion, which assesses consumer health information. A total of 90 videos with over 108 million views were analyzed. Pharmaceuticals like minoxidil and finasteride were the most mentioned treatments. YouTube influencers created 37.8% of the videos, while 18.9% featured board-certified dermatologists. The average DISCERN score for overall quality was 2.66, indicating generally low-quality information. The study concluded that while YouTube is a widely used resource for hair loss treatment information, the content is often biased and lacks a central review process, posing potential safety concerns for patients.
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