Leishmaniasis on YouTube: a critical appraisal of the quality, reliability, and transparency of educational content
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Background
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease of significant global public health importance, for which accurate information is essential to support prevention and early care-seeking, particularly in endemic, resource-limited settings. YouTube is a widely used source of health information, but the quality and reliability of leishmaniasis-related content have not been evaluated. We aimed to assess the quality, reliability, and transparency of English-language YouTube videos on leishmaniasis.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of YouTube videos retrieved via the YouTube Data API on 15 June 2026 using the terms “leishmaniasis,” “cutaneous leishmaniasis,” and “visceral leishmaniasis.” After applying eligibility criteria and screening the 150 most-viewed eligible videos, 48 videos were included. Two reviewers independently assessed each video using the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN) tool, the Global Quality Score (GQS), and the JAMA benchmark criteria, with disagreements resolved by consensus. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and associations were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation.
Results
Of 402 videos retrieved, 48 met the inclusion criteria. The median GQS was 3.00 (IQR 2.00–4.00) and median mDISCERN was 3.00 (IQR 2.38–4.50), indicating moderate quality and reliability, while the median JAMA score was 2.00 (IQR 1.00–2.00), reflecting limited transparency; no video met all four JAMA criteria. The overwhelming majority of videos (47/48, 97.9%) were of professional or institutional origin. Inter-rater agreement was good to excellent (ICC 0.883 for GQS, 0.896 for mDISCERN, 1.000 for JAMA). The instruments were strongly inter-correlated (mDISCERN–GQS ρ = 0.841, p < 0.001). Quality scores did not correlate positively with views, likes, or video duration; comments correlated weakly and negatively with mDISCERN (ρ = −0.337, p = 0.031) and JAMA (ρ = −0.381, p = 0.014).
Conclusions
YouTube videos on leishmaniasis are of moderate quality and reliability but limited transparency, and are produced almost exclusively by professional sources. Video popularity, length, and age were not indicators of quality. There is a need for experts and institutions to produce clearly authored, well-sourced, and transparent educational content on this neglected tropical disease.
Author summary
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasites and spread by sandfly bites, and accurate public information is important for its prevention and early treatment, especially in the poorer regions where it is most common. Many people turn to YouTube for health information, but the quality of leishmaniasis videos had never been studied. We analysed 48 English-language YouTube videos on leishmaniasis using three established scoring tools assessing quality, reliability, and transparency. We found that the videos were of moderate quality and reliability but were often not transparent about who made them, what sources they used, or when they were produced; no video met all four transparency criteria. Almost all the videos came from health professionals or institutions rather than ordinary users, which differs from many other health topics on YouTube. Importantly, a video’s popularity, length, or age did not indicate how good it was. Our findings suggest that experts and health institutions should produce not only more, but clearer and better-sourced, educational content on leishmaniasis to help people find trustworthy information online.
