Assessing the quality of publicly available videos on MDMA‐assisted psychotherapy for PTSD

Videos on YouTube about MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD are generally of poor quality, scoring low on standard measures of health information quality. Longer videos and those featuring a medical or doctoral professional scored higher. Only one percent of the videos came from academic institutions, while most were from professional organizations. A majority correctly noted that MDMA must be used with psychotherapy and is not FDA-approved for PTSD, but only a third mentioned risks or potential for abuse. The findings point to a need for better online health information and greater involvement of healthcare professionals in creating accurate content.

Study at a glance

Abstract

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesPatients increasingly rely on the Internet for healthcare information. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of videos on 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)‐assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on YouTube™.MethodsYouTube™ was searched for the terms “MDMA” and “PTSD.” The 100 most viewed videos were analyzed using three standard quality measures: Global Quality Scores (GQS), JAMA benchmark, and DISCERN. Viewer engagement features and source of upload, video duration, inclusion of patient narrative and/or MD/DO/PhD, the mention of lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, side effects, potential for abuse, and use in conjunction with psychotherapy were recorded.ResultsThe videos were of poor quality (mean GQS: 2.26 ± 0.94/5, JAMA: 1.96 ± 0.45/4, and DISCERN: 29.5 ± 8.2/80). A significant positive association was found between video quality and duration (GQS: r = .5857, p < .0001, JAMA: r = .279, p = .0409, DISCERN: r = .5783, p < .0001). Videos including an MD/DO/PhD had the highest scores (GQS: 2.87/5 [1.22], p = .006, DISCERN: 38.35/80 [13.32], p < .0003). A minority of videos were uploaded by academic institutions (1%); most were from professional organizations (29%). No correlation was found between quality and viewer engagement features‐number of views, subscribers, likes/dislikes, or comments. A majority mentioned that MDMA must be used in conjunction with psychotherapy (85%) and is not FDA‐approved (82%) for PTSD. Only 32% of videos mentioned risks or potential for abuse.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the need for better quality of online health material and an opportunity for involvement of healthcare professionals in the dissemination of accurate health information via content creation.Scientific SignificanceThis is the first study to examine publicly available information on the use of MDMA for PTSD.